


The Ones for The Boy Who Lived

by IllusionEvenstar



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Magical Pregnancy, Mary Sue, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-02-01 10:06:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 61,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12702666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllusionEvenstar/pseuds/IllusionEvenstar
Summary: Three friends Jude, Rach and Becka from Asia were mysteriously accepted to Hogwarts. What was the connection between the trio and Hogwarts?





	1. Off to Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> Old, OLD fic written in 2003
> 
> This is my very first Harry Potter fic I have written, that takes place before the events of Book Five, I think, and based on an idea both me and my other two friends who are Harry Potter fangirls had come up with. I posted this fic before on my FF.net account, but it totally sucked, so I revised it and reuploaded it, and now it shall be posted here for your happy reading! ;p
> 
> Forgive the weird story plot and grammar. I was a budding fanfic writer back then~

            “It’s time to bring them in, my fellow colleagues,” Albus Dumbledore said in a serious tone. The rest of Hogwarts staff was quite taken aback. They rarely see Albus that serious and they knew he meant business.

            “Albus, can’t it wait?” Prof. McGonagalle said worriedly. “I mean, it’s not exactly such a good idea to let them in now. Not when that You-Know-Who is still out there after them.”

            “It is time,” Albus replied gravely and left without saying another word. The Hogwarts staff looked at each other, not knowing what else to do.

            Sitting silently at another corner of the meeting table, Prof. Snape was deep in his thoughts.

                                                                        *

            Jude found it hard to believe that she and her friends were on their way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Come to think of it, she couldn’t understand why were she and her friends chosen to be in this school in the first place. One night, she found that a strange-looking white owl coming through the window of her 4-storeyed apartment with the offer letter and the next morning, on the last day of her primary school year, she was approached by her best friends Rach and Becka who also got a copy of the letter.

            It was also surprising that their parents actually allowed them to go to this school. They didn’t even expect their parents to agree on this so easily. They were even surprised that their parents didn’t tell them anything about why they were accepted into the school. Looks like they have to find out for themselves.

            They took the plane to London, where it was said that they’ll get their school equipment there. They met with one of the seniors in that school; the famous Harry Potter (as told by their parents). He had the brightest green eyes and the friendliest smile that the trio was immediately acquainted to him. He took them to a place called Leaky Cauldron and brought them into a world behind the wall of the shop, called Diagon Alley. They were dazzled to see the place over-run with wizards and witches and other magical people. After a long way to the wizarding bank at Gringotts (they were surprised at knowing that they have a bank account for them) and of shopping in Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, Flourish & Blotts, the apothecary and other shops, Harry took them to the place they have been waiting for: _Ollivanders_ _: Maker of Fine Wands since 382 BC_. They were measured by a tape that was alive and tried loads and loads of wands. Finally they’ve been chosen by their rightful wands: Becka had an 8 ¾ inch wand a combination of phoenix feather and redwood that sent out a mixture of yellow and orange sparks—like the colour of fire itself; Jude got a 7 inch wand a combination of dragon heartstring and ash that sent out a shower of green and brown—colours of the jungle—sparks; and Rach had a 7 inch wand a combination of phoenix feather and maple which sent out a mixture of blue and red sparks, almost like an aurora.

            Lastly Harry took them to the pet shop to get their pets. The trio looked around, unable to decide what to take as pets. They never had a pet before and they certainly were not sure whether if the pet they choose are going to be suitable or not.

            “Go ahead, take your pick,” Harry said kindly. “Don’t be shy. The rules have bended a little. You are allowed to choose any house pet to bring to Hogwarts.”

            “But…But I don’t know if we can afford it,” Jude said worriedly, eyeing her money pouch that was filled with Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.

            “Don’t worry. Choose any pet you like. Our Headmaster Dumbledore said it’s his treat. He’s been expecting you.”

            That eased the trio’s mind a little, although still curious about why the sudden red carpet treatment. Jude picked a German Shepherd and named him Max. Becka had her eyes caught to a black tom cat and immediately took him in, naming him Salem. Rach had no interest in furry animals, but she was attracted to a huge 2-feet-long python. She chose him and named him Slipper.

            Now, after three days in Shireland Hotel (a hotel that allows pets), they were on the train called Hogwarts Express on the way to the wizarding school. It wasn’t easy finding the platform. They had to ask for help from their new-found friends Darren Hawkins and his sister Angelica to find Platform 9 ¾. The Hawkins siblings were really friendly and nice to them and they became friends almost immediately. On the train they introduced Bertie Bott’s Every Flavoured Beans and Chocolate Frogs and all other delicacies. They even made another new friend who so happens to choke on one of the Beans and Jude had to save him. His name was Tony Brixius.

            Jude had a habit of observing people and that’s what she did when her other two girlfriends chit-chatted with the Hawkins and Tony. Darren had dark-brown hair and a nice set of blue eyes. His sister also had the same eyes, only that her hair was brownish-blonde. Tony, on the other hand, had golden-blonde hair that reached his shoulders and sparkling green eyes, almost like Legolas in LOTR, but he wore black from the neck down.

            “Why the black complexion, Tony?” Jude asked suddenly, surprising her friends.

            “I…I…Well, if you must know, that’s because,” Tony lowered his voice, “my family and I were forced to become followers of the…You-Know-Who. I’m covering up the scars the Dark Lord left on me.”

            “No way!” Darren said, amazed. Tony nodded.

            “Who’s ‘You-Know-Who’? What’s his name?” Becka asked, Rach nodded behind her in agreement. Their three new friends stared at her in bewilderment.

            “You’re not supposed to say his name! It’s a forbidden language to us all!” Darren exclaimed.

            “It would be suicidal to say his name! Horrible!” Angelica’s face was going white.

            “The Dark Lord loves it when people say his name. Gives him power, gives him recognition,” Tony mumbled, looking down at the train floor.

            “Uh…excuse us for a second,” Jude said and dragged her girlfriends by the collar to the toilet. “We sorta need to change into our robes now.”

            “What gives, Jude?” Rach asked, surprised at Jude’s sudden attitude.

            “Shh! Don’t you think it’s kinda weird? I mean, as soon as we’re out of primary school, we’re suddenly offered to this really cool but weird school, our parents let us go to this school without as much as an explanation or a question, then a few days ago we were given the red carpet treatment by this Senior Potter and this so-called Headmaster Dumbledore, now we’re in a middle of not knowing who this mysterious You-Know-Who, whom I don’t know! What’s going on here?”

            “I know less than you do,” Becka replied, slipping into her robes. “Do you remember that look on this Mr. Ollivander’s face when we waved our wands? It was like he was amazed at the wand that chose us. I mean, it’s just a wand. What’s the diff?”

          “Speaking of which,” Rach chided, “did you girls notice that everyone in that Diagon Alley was actually looking at us? They had that sort of look in their eyes, like we’re celebrities or something. Those Hawkins siblings and Tony also had that look when we first met. You girls may think it’s cool but I think it’s weird.”

            “Looks like we’re caught in a conspiracy theory. We won’t be able to trust anyone easily, not even that friendly Senior Potter. Although that scar on his forehead was pretty cool,” Jude commented.

            “Hey! You’re not swooning over him now, are you?” Becka and Rach looked at her slyly.

            “No! Of course not! I have better things to do than falling for someone at first sight! Besides, he’s not my type.”

            Suddenly, the train grounded into a halt. The trio heard Darren calling them. This means that they have reached their destination. They came out of the toilet fully dressed in their robes. They followed the Hawkins and Tony out of the train and into a crowd of students standing in front of a beetled-eyed giant. And what a giant he was! His face was all built out of hair. His hair was scraggly, as if he hadn’t combed it for the last 20 years, and his moustache and beard were so long, it formed a blanket on his tubby belly. But in spite of his savage looks, he had a very jovial and lively voice. He was no other than Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper.

            “Right! Ev’ryone ‘ere? Stand in place so I can summat see ye,” Hagrid said in his thick Scottish slang. “Blimey, if it ain’t da girls from yonder! You girls! Come ‘ere, lassies! Let me ‘av a good look at ye!”

            The trio was quite surprised to see Hagrid gesturing at them. They timidly went towards the giant, receiving amazed looks from the students, just like Rach described it. They gazed at the giant towering over them like a huge mountain of hair. Hagrid took their chin one by one and scrutinized them quietly, then beamed and said, “Aye, lassies. You’re da ones Dumbledore wuz awaitin’ fer. Lovely lass ye ar’. What’s yer names?”

            “Judith Light, sir,” Jude replied.

            “Rachel Yearne,” Rach said, smiling as cute as possible.

            “Rebecca Levi,” Becka said. Somewhere in a distance, she thought she heard someone caught his/her breath.

            “Right. Ye girls ar’ comin’ with me in my boat. Alright, children! Come along with ol’ Hagrid ‘ere! Second years, yer carriages ar’ thataway!” Hagrid called out, and just like the trio’s parents, he didn’t explain what the reason of his mysterious behaviour towards them was. They went to the jetty and sat on (to their amazement) the oar-less boat with Hagrid. Jude tried her luck in asking.

            “Uh, Mr. Hagrid, sir, I was wondering…”

            “No need sirrin’ me, lassie. Just plain ol’ Hagrid, aye?” Hagrid grinned. “What wuz ye wonderin’ about?”

            “Why is Headmaster Dumbledore expecting us? I mean, this is so weird. We’re just mere kids from Asia who just finish primary school. Why would this school want us?”

            “Aye, dat’s the mystery now, yes? I ain’t tellin’ ye girls nothin’. Ye will find it out quite by yerselfs actually. Ye not gettin’ anythin’ from ol’ Hagrid ‘ere!”

            “Why not? We just wanna know…” Becka was cut short by Hagrid’s call to the rest of the students.

            “’Ere we ar’ now, boys and girls! Hogwarts!”

            The trio looked up and stared in awe at the legendary Hogwarts Castle, standing tall strong and proud yet dark and mysterious. There were some bats hovering around and the moon was well-lit in the sky. Jude was fascinated—she loves scary and mysterious stuff. Becka cringed a little in the back at the eeriness of the castle. Rach looked at it as if nothing was special about it. Some of the other students oohed and ahhed at it.

            Soon, they reached the shore. Hagrid helped the trio off the boat and led all the new students of Hogwarts up a flight of stairs towards the castle door, holding a large lamp. He knocked at the huge door at upon reaching there and, before long, footsteps were heard from the inside. As the door opened, there stood Prof. Minerva McGonagalle, as stern and firm as ever. Hagrid bowed to her respectfully and said, “The first yearers, Prof. McGonagalle, all here. Including The Ones.”

            The Ones? Who is he talking about? The trio looked at each other in surprise.

            “That’ll be all, Hagrid,” Prof. McGonagalle replied. “You may leave. I’ll take it from here.”

            Hagrid left from the back, taking the students’ pets and luggage with him. All the students went in and Prof. McGonagalle shut the door behind them. She called for their attention and said, “The Prefects will come and show you the way to the Great Hall. The three of you, please follow me.”

            She was gesturing the trio. They looked at each other again. Things were getting weirder and weirder. They followed her into a long hallway and found themselves in front of a door guarded by two griffin-like statues. Prof. McGonagalle said a password “Tiger balm” and the statues slowly made way, revealing a spiral staircase. She went up, followed by the trio. They came into a huge wide office with loads of books and parchments and a great deal of interior design. There was even a beautiful red phoenix perched on a bird stand, looking at them curiously.

            “Stay where you are, girls,” Prof. McGonagalle said before she left. “If you’re hungry, there is a table that has food just for you. We will be right back.”

            So saying, she left hurriedly, leaving the trio to fend for themselves.

            “This is totally weird. Ever since we left Sabah, everyone’s been acting weird,” Becka commented, putting her hands on her waist.

            “I guess this is the wizarding life for us,” Jude shrugged. “We have no choice but to wait. Let’s dine!”


	2. The Sorting Hat

            After a long wait, the trio finally heard footsteps coming up to the office. They finished their last drop of drinks and popped a candy into their mouths before rushing to their seats in front of the Headmaster’s table.

            There were a number of teachers coming in. There was an old-looking teacher who came in wearing maroon robes and a pair of half-mooned glasses. There was Prof. McGonagalle and Hagrid, and there was a ghost teacher, much to the trio’s horror, floating in. More teachers came in, one after another. Come to think of it, the trio thought that the whole Hogwarts staff has come into the Headmaster’s office.

            Finally, the last teacher stepped in. Jude was quite taken aback to see him. He was a man in his 30’s, with sallow skin, almost going pale. His eyes were like Hagrid’s but not as friendly. In fact, they were like dark tunnels. He had greasy hair that reached shoulder-length. His nose was crooked and his whole facial expression was that of a cold and calm state. Totally expressionless, to be exact. Jude couldn’t help staring at him. He looked so mysterious, as if you’ll never guess what’s going on in his mind. The teacher glared coldly back at her, sending a cold chill down her spine.

            “Everyone please take your seats. The Special Sorting is about to start,” the old man with half-mooned glasses announced to all the Hogwarts staff. They obeyed and waved a wand, saying “Accio chair”. Automatically, the chairs came towards them and formed a circle. They took their seats and waited patiently.

            “Girls, you may take your seats too,” the old man said as he used his own magic to bring three stools for them to sit. They left their original seats and sat on the stools in the middle of the circle.

            “Have you eaten your supper, girls?” Prof. McGonagalle asked.

            “Oh yes, ma’am. Thank you very much,” Rach tried to sound as polite as possible. She always wanted to make a good impression on someone.

            “Right. Let’s start then,” the old man said. “Good evening, girls. I am your Headmaster, Prof. Albus Dumbledore. We gathered you girls here today for a special sorting session.”

            “What about the other students? Aren’t they going to take this session?” Becka asked.

            “They have, but the sorting session was a normal one. You girls are special. You are different than the rest. We are going to sort you into your suitable houses. It will be your house for the rest of your 7 school years here.”

            “7? I didn’t know we’re going to study 7 years in here! Our parents didn’t inform us that!” Jude exclaimed. Headmaster Dumbledore chuckled.

            “Now you know, girls. Now, if you would be so kind as to tell us your names.”

            The trio told them. Headmaster Dumbledore nodded and called out, “Bring in the Mystic Sorting Hat.”    

            A spindly man came in with two hats, with a tabby cat following at his feet. The hats were quite different from each other. One was scrawny and worn-out and obviously had been through a lot of wear and tear, judging by the stitches on it. It was old, very old, like it had been there for a century. Its black seemed pretty menacing. The other hat was completely different. It was very clean and well dusted. It seemed very new, as if it was bought from the shop a few hours after display. The sewing was very neat and tidy. It was obvious that it was made by a professional. And it was white in colour, like the colour of snow. Prof. Dumbledore took the white hat. The spindly man took the black one away for safe-keeping.

            “Sir, what’s the black hat for? It looks so old,” Jude was curious.

            “That, Judith, is the sorting hat for the normal session. For your case, we’re going to use this white hat.”

            Suddenly, the hat crinkled a little to form somewhat like a face. It moved around, looking at the horrified trio with much interest, then said in a deep voice, “So, these are The Ones I have to help you sort out, eh?”

            “Yes, they are, Mystic. Do your bidding and sort these girls to their rightful houses,” Prof. Dumbledore grinned at the hat jovially. The hat nodded.

            “It’ll be my pleasure. Who would like to start first?”

            The trio pointed at each other. Neither of them wanted to start first. No way were they going to put on a hat that was actually alive. Though it seemed pretty interesting and new to Jude, she didn’t want to risk anything terrible.

            “Don’t worry, girls, I’m not going to eat your brains,” the hat said with a smirk. “I’m only going to read your mind a little so that I know which house suits you. Come along now, it won’t hurt a bit.”  

            Finally, Jude volunteered to try it on. She took the white hat and put it on her head and tried to sit as quietly as possible. Somehow she found comfort in looking at the cold-faced teacher, which surprised him quite a bit, but received a cold stare as a reply. She crossed her legs and fingers, hoping for the best.

            “Ahh! Yes! Very confident of yourself, aren’t you? I see something really dark inside you, fighting to get out. Ooh, not a very friendly thing now, isn’t it? So loomingly dark. You’re going to end up being consumed by it sooner or later, young lady,” Jude could hear the hat mumbling in her head. “Tell me, little girl, if you were to have found a bag of Galleons, what would you do? You can think it out, no need to say it aloud.”

            “I would definitely spend it. Galleons are gold! You gotta be stupid not to spend it!” Jude exclaimed in her head.

            “Interesting. I see someone has made you cross for a while. Who is it? Hannah, I presume?”

            The hat really read her mind! Hannah was her very close friend when they were in primary school. They were so close that many mistaken them for sisters. She thought their friendship will last forever, but Hannah had betrayed her by taking away the boy she had a crush on. It took so long for her to get the boy to notice her, but Hannah swiped him away under her nose so easily. It took her months to recover, and about a year before she was able to trust her girlfriends Becka and Rach.

            “I see a lot of anger in this one. You really hate her, don’t you, little girl? How much? Tell me.”

            “Enough to _kill_ her!” Jude’s heart was burning in rage, unable to control the demon inside her. She felt a fire burning in her, raging like a beast ready to kill anyone in her path.

            “Now, now, little girl, there’s nothing to be upset about. You obviously have better talents than this, I can see that,” the hat calmed Jude a little before announcing its decision to the Hogwarts staff, “Attention, everybody! This girl is talented and cunning, dark and mysterious. She is a definite…SLYTHERIN!!”

            The Hogwarts staff clapped their hands and the cold-faced teacher nodded at them with not much facial expression. Prof. Dumbledore gestured Jude to go and sit beside the teacher, much to her surprise. She moved her stool and sat a bit nearer to him. She tried to smile at him but he glared at her coldly, which made her feel awkward and shrink.

            Next it was Becka’s turn. She put on the hat and the hat started commenting right away, “Ahh, now this is a lovely thought! Thank you for complementing on me, little girl! I appreciate that. Let’s see…you’re a pretty daring little child, and filled with chivalry. OK, you’re quite brave at heart. You are pretty helpful, aren’t you? You’d do anything you can to keep the friendship bond together now, would you not? Gee, you’re pretty uptight when it comes to betrayal. Let me ask you, if you found a bag of Galleon, what would you do, really?”  

            “I’d donate it,” Becka replied in her head.

            “That’s a kind thought. My, my, I see you’ve done a brave deed saving your sister from being harassed by thugs.”

            The hat was right. She had a very beautiful younger sister whom she was very protective to when she was a kid. Many liked her sister, including a bunch of thugs, one of them who was quite handsome. She had to constantly chase them away with a broom when they appeared at her house to see her pretty sister. You can say she was her sister’s bodyguard.

            The hat then announced, “It looks like we have another person joining the…GRYFFINDORS!!”

            As the staff clapped, Becka slowly brought her stool to sit beside Prof. McGonagalle, whom Prof. Dumbledore gestured her to sit with. Finally it was Rach’s turn. She put on the hat and sat there waiting for the hat to make its decision.

            “Oh, I like this one! I see you’re a wise, witty little girl. Maybe a wee bit minute, but size doesn’t really count now, does it? Interesting. You have the urge to learn more and to gain more interesting facts and information into your mind. Careful your brain doesn’t explode! You criticize a lot, don’t you? I thought so. You always want to be exact. A perfectionist, I see. So, if you saw a bag of Galleons, what would you do? Spend it?”

            “I’m not that bad,” Rach replied. “I’d rather save it so that I can use it for the benefit of my future!”

            “Ahh, a future-planner, eh? Much to be accounted for. Wow, I can see you were the class genius. You never fail in your exams now, do you?”

            How true the hat was. Never before has she got last in her class. She always gets into the Top Three. No question was too difficult for her, that she can be sure. She could master almost everything given for her to study. High marks were not a problem for her. She was the pride of her class and of her family, although it had some stressing drawbacks.

            “Ladies and gentlemen of Hogwarts, we have a prized jewel. Introducing the future of…RAVENCLAW!!”

            Prof. Dumbledore gestured her to sit beside a short, jovial man. She obeyed. The teacher was all smiles. Rach couldn’t help feeling that he looked a little bit of a pervert. The spindly man came and took the hat, which has resumed to its original hat state. Prof. Dumbledore stood up and said, “Very nicely sorted, Mystic. Girls, from now on you will be placed into the houses the hat has mentioned. As I have said, it will be your houses throughout your 7 school years. Let me introduce your house teacher. Judith, this is your house teacher, Prof. Severus Snape. Rebecca, your house teacher will be Prof. Minerva McGonagalle. And Rachel, your teacher is Prof. Flitwick. Get acquainted with each other now.”

            He then allowed Prof. McGonagalle to explain the rules to them before adjourning the sorting session. The trio said goodnight to each other and went with their respective house teachers. Becka was, as expected, given a lecture by Prof. McGonagalle about forbidden misbehaviour along the way to her homeroom. Funnily though, her homeroom door was a portrait and her password was “Twinkle Toes”. Rach was showered with enthusiastic conversation (which she considered quite lame) by Prof. Flitwick. Her homeroom was a secret door on a wall and her password was “Potty Peroo”.

            Jude followed her house teacher quietly. He wasn’t the type for intimate conversation and she definitely did not want to create trouble on her first day in a foreign place. He took her down to the cold, murky dungeons and brought her to face a dungeon wall. He said the password in a silky voice, “Dark Dragon” and the wall opened up to reveal a sinister and dark-looking room.

            “This is your common room. Your password is ‘Dark Dragon’. Remember that and do not reveal it to anyone. You may enter and retire to your bed now. Look for Malfoy. He will show you the way.”

            Jude took a step into the common room and paused. Finally she couldn’t hold the question that was burning in her heart and asked, “Sir, why are we here? What connection are we to this school? It’s not just because we’re borne witches, right?”

            Prof. Snape was silent for a moment before answering, “It is not for you dunderheads to understand.”

            What a totally unfriendly teacher! Jude was quite insulted by this attitude of his. Even the meanest teacher in her school wasn’t as mean and cold as this! She finally found Malfoy, who was a quite smart blonde with unkind gray eyes. He took her to a girl called Pansy Parkinson, who in turn showed her to the girls’ dormitory. Max was there to greet her. Jude felt much better. At least her dog was there to cheer her up.

            That night, when she slept, she had a very weird dream. She found herself standing a few distance away from a body drenched in red blood. The body was pretty much torn to pieces. She looked at her hands and saw that her hands were, too, covered with red, sticky blood. Her heart filled with fear and anxiety, as if she had done a serious crime she had no idea of.

            That was when she felt a certain cold presence behind her. Yet it felt familiar, like she had ever experienced this feeling before. She turned around to see who it was.

            It was Prof. Severus Snape.


	3. First Day in Class

            Jude woke up in a daze. The dream last night was really weird beyond words. Max nuzzled her cheek and whined to get her up. She eventually did. As she washed and changed into her school uniform and robes, she couldn’t help feeling bedazzled about the whole dream. She wanted to look for someone to talk to about her dream, but then she realized that in her house, her Slytherin friends were pretty hostile to each other. As she was the new student in her Slytherin house, she decided to bottle it up for the time being.

            She joined her housemates from behind to the Great Hall to have breakfast. This was the first time she ever set foot into such a huge dining room. By then she realized that Tony, whom she and her friends met in the Hogwarts Express, was also in her same house. She ran over to greet him.

            “Good morning, Tony!” Jude said, trying to sound lively.

            “Ah! So you’re a Slytherin too!” Tony exclaimed as they took their seat at their house table. “So, had a good night’s sleep?”

            “Not really. I sorta had a weird dream last night.”

            “Nightmare?”

            “No. Not a nightmare, really. It’s just really weird. I can’t explain it.”

           “It’s normal to have weird dreams, Jude. You’re from Asia, right? That’s like a few thousand miles away from home. Probably in your subconscious mind, you’re quite homesick.”

            “I guess you’re right. I was…”

            “Excuse me! Step aside, please!” Her conversation was rudely interrupted by a very hard shove from a fat shoulder. She looked up saw that it was Malfoy and his fat, dorky henchmen Crabbe and Goyle. She had to shift aside a little. No point fighting with seniors.

            “You must be the new intern I met last night, eh?” Malfoy said with a really cunning smirk. “Well, there are some ground rules here. You do your best in our house, never leave space for screw-ups, don’t you dare mess around with me, and don’t you even dare have anything to do with that goody two-shoed Potter boy!”

            “You mean Harry?” Jude was surprised. “He’s seemed like an upright guy. Why can’t I be friends with him?”

            “So you rather hang out with Mudbloods and Halflings instead of with the genuine magical-blood wizards and witches like us? Are you denying your own bloodline?”

            “Look! All I know is that…” Her words were cut short by Tony cupping her mouth. Tony gave her a warning look and signaled her to sit at a further corner of the table.

            “You don’t argue with the well-known Draco Malfoy. He’s rich and his father is one of the important people in the Ministry. You’ll be in deep shit if you dare to tamper with his temper.”

            “So what if he’s a filthy rich boy? I don’t give a damn!”

            “You will give a damn when he makes his father expel you from this school. You can’t afford to go home now, can you? Besides, it’s been a tradition in this school that Slytherins and Gryffindors are the worst enemies around. You’ll just have to bear with it.”

            So Jude had to put up with that Draco Malfoy’s rules. Without him noticing, she craned her neck to make sure Rach and Becka were there in their houses enjoying breakfast as well as she did. They jerked their heads, acknowledging each other and giving out their good mornings through eye-contact.

            Classes were conducted as scheduled in the timetable. Her first class was DADA, taught by the so-called re-employed Prof. Remus Lupin, which was a very interesting subject. Prof. Lupin was quite a nice guy—firm but nice. Then was the boring History of Magic by the ghost teacher Prof. Binns (Jude almost fell asleep throughout the subject). Herbology was next, by Prof. Sprout. A few times, she was caught by surprise at upon seeing some of the roots in the Herbology green house that were actually alive, and almost made a fool of herself looking horrified at things her other housemates thought normal. Draco gave a really stern look at her and she tried to resume her calmness. Charms was interesting too, taught by Prof. Flitwick. It was a combine class between Jude and Becka’s class, and Becka sort of levitated her own housemates, including Harry, Ron and Hermione _and_ Prof. Flitwick instead of levitating the toothpick they were supposed to levitate in the first place. Jude couldn’t help pretending she never knew her at all.

            Potions was the most challenging subject of all. It was a combined class with the Ravenclaws, so Jude had the chance to meet Rach. As Prof. Snape entered the class, there was a sudden hush. It was like everyone shrank down at his presence. She didn’t expect that this teacher had so much impact on every student in this potion lab. Although she was still quite peeved and a little scared of this cold professor, she made no attempt shrink like the rest of the class. She remained sitting up straight.

            After taking the students’ attendance, Prof. Snape started the class with a small lecture on potions. His voice was barely a whisper, but Jude was surprised that she could hear every word he said. She couldn’t help paying attention to every of his features from head to toe. She was struck back to reality when she heard Prof. Snape said, “As you can see, we have a few new students whom we have chosen all the way from the East. Introduce yourselves, please.”

            Jude and Rach stood up and nodded to each other. Jude started first, “Hi, guys. My name is Judith Light. I may have a Western surname, but I’m mostly Chinese.”

            “So am I,” Rach replied. “My name is Rachel Yearne. Pleased to meet you.”

            “That’ll be all, girls. Sit down,” Prof. Snape ordered. The duo obeyed. Jude thought she saw most of her Slytherin housemates going quite blue. That goes to Rach’s Ravenclaw housemates. Jude decided to put it aside for the time being.

            Prof. Snape scribbled a long list of ingredients on the blackboard and told them to start making their potions. She then realized that Prof. Snape had a thing for his Slytherin students. He criticized a lot on the Ravenclaws and put more praises on the Slytherins. Of course, he didn’t attempt to say anything when it comes to Rach or her, which made the whole situation even weird for her. Draco noticed her staring at Prof. Snape and nudged her on her sensitive waist. She shrieked suddenly and dropped the spider legs that she wasn’t supposed to do so before putting the bats’ eyes into her cauldron and the cauldron began to bubble and boil, spilling the potion all over the table. Tony squeaked in horror and backed away.

            “Fool! Look what have you done!” Prof. Snape snapped at her and waved his wand to clear the bubbling mess. “I thought I made it very clear to you that you’re supposed to put in the bats’ eyes first and drop the spider legs one by one, not drop them all at once!”

            “Sir, it wasn’t her fault,” Tony tried to speak for her. “It was Draco! He nudged her and…”

            “Silence, Brixius! You are to speak when you are spoken to. That’ll be 3 points from you. And 5 points from you, Light, for being careless.”

            Silent sniggers were heard from the Ravenclaws. Rach sighed. First day of school and already her best friend had made a mess of things. Jude felt quite bad herself. She had to redo the whole thing again. She wanted to kick Draco down to China but remembering that he was her senior and she was on her first day in Hogwarts, she kept silent.

            Suddenly she heard Draco hissing at her, “Nice going, new kid! We’ve lost a few points right at the first day of school! Sooner or later you’re gonna make us lose more points!”

            Tony glared at him. Jude was infuriated. Not only he didn’t apologize, but he put all the blame on her! She was so angry that she felt the fire inside her burning to the point of a massive forest fire. She turned and glared angrily at him. She felt as if she wanted to curse him and turn him into something horrible. Somehow, she felt as if she wanted to just kill him. Her anger grew and grew to the point where she couldn’t control…

            When she got back to her senses, there was a sudden commotion. She saw Draco’s cauldron exploded into pieces and he was drenched all over in bluish-green goop. Draco was staring wide-eyed at her in disbelief. Jude suddenly fell in a daze. Her anger was replaced with confusion and severe fatigue, as if she had done an 11-mile run. She felt like she was going to black out sooner or later if she didn’t get out of the lab and have some fresh air. She couldn’t hear anything else around her. All she could see was everyone, including Rach and Tony, gaping at both her and Draco in surprise and horror. She lost her grip and fell to the lab floor.

            Prof. Snape’s face above her was the last thing she remembered.

                                                                        *

            “Are you OK now, Jude?” Becka asked worriedly.

            “Sort of,” Jude replied. She was now in the Hospital Wing being taken care of by Madame Pomfrey. Max was beside her, whining as he stared at his mistress. Jude massaged her temples and asked, “What happened back there?”

            “You were in shock,” Rach said, allowing her Slipper coil around her body. “Senior Malfoy’s cauldron suddenly exploded and sent the potion flying all over the place. You went pale like death and your eyes gone blank. What’s gotten into you? What have you done to his potion?”

            “Nothing! I was just feeling a little ticked off at Senior Malfoy and then the next thing I know, I was staring at him covered in green goop…”

            “He looks kinda funny like that anyway,” Rach grinned.

            “So…how did I get here?” Jude asked, sitting up.

            “Guess what? It was that tongue-lashing Prof. Snape,” Rach looked at her slyly. “He practically rushed up to you before your head hit the ground and carried you all the way here. Uncanny, huh?”

            “Ooh~ Looks like our little Jude here has made a really ‘good’ impression on her house teacher,” Becka teased, stroking her Salem.

            “Shut up!” Jude punched Becka playfully on the shoulder. “I feel awful enough to mess up my potion during my first class with him. I’m not in a mood for jokes.”

            “Did you notice that our housemates actually went quite blue when we introduced our names?” Rach asked.

            “You noticed it too?” Jude was surprised. “I thought I was the only one to see it!”

            “So am I! My housemates went blue too when I introduced myself during Transfiguration class,” Becka exclaimed. “This is getting weirder and weirder by the minute.”

            “Conspiracy theory, remember? We gotta find this out quick or we’ll be kept in the dark forever,” Jude replied, then cheered up and said, “but we can put this aside first. I’m kinda hungry.”

            “Bakasaru (stupid monkey)!” Rach and Becka said together. Sometimes they wonder where all the food Jude has eaten went down to. She was quite a glutton yet she was still able to maintain a reasonable figure.  

            After lunch at the Great Hall, Jude made a dash to Transfiguration class, which was taught by Prof. McGonagalle. She was almost late because she spent too long staying back in the Great Hall chit-chatting with Rach and Becka and not realizing that her Slytherin housemates have already left. Tony had to come back and get her and they were almost caught by Argus Filch, the spindly caretaker of Hogwarts. Tony said that everyone hated him and his tabby cat, Mrs. Norris, because she was such a nuisance.

            When she reached the Transfiguration classroom, she was first greeted by the presence of a black tabby cat, which a few seconds later, jumped off the desk and changed into an unsmiling woman with her hair tied in a bun. Jude gawked in amazement and horror.

            “You are 5 minutes late, Judith. I had to ask Tony here to come and get you. I hope you don’t repeat this again. Many students lose points that way.”

            “Yes, ma’am,” Jude replied timidly before taking her seat. The class started. Her first lesson was to change a ball into an apple, but somehow she ended up changing it into a bubble. The Slytherins laughed at her antic and she felt even worse. She regretted not staying longer in the Hospital Wing and faking her illness even more.

            Her last lesson was broomstick flying. The teacher who taught this subject invited the seniors from each house, namely Harry from Gryffindor, Draco from Slytherin, Darren from Ravenclaw and Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff to guide their juniors. They learned how to call for the broom into their hands and how to ride and steer the broom correctly. The trio (Jude, Rach & Becka) got quite the hang of it after a few practices. Harry rode his broom slowly towards Jude and said, “I heard about the incident in the potions lab. How did you do it?”

            “What? How did you know about it?” Jude was surprised.

            “Word spreads very fast here in Hogwarts, especially when it’s something to do with the person you hate,” Ron joined in the conversation, grinning from ear to ear. “The name’s Ron Weasley. Way to go, new kid!”

            “Come on! I feel bad enough already. I ruined my Potions class and humiliated a senior. How much more trouble can I get into?”

            “Don’t ever feel bad when it comes to Draco, Jude,” Harry said, reaching out to pat her back. “If anything goes wrong, just come to me. I’ll be glad to help.”

            “Yeah! I’ve made my decision to like you. Our first Slytherin friend, Harry, imagine that! Wait till Hermione finds out about this! She might think we’re nuts!” Ron said out loud and laughed. Jude liked the two friends. They can so jolly at times like these.

            “Light! You stay away from those two dunderheads!”

            Jude went quite pale. It was Draco’s voice, and she could feel him coming closer to her with his fast-moving broom. He shoved Ron aside and tugged her robe sleeve, growling, “What have I told you about hanging out with the Gryffindors? You come with me this instance and don’t let me catch you with them again!”

            “Hey, Malfoy, cut her some slack!” Ron shouted as he butted Draco’s broom with his. “She has the freedom to choose who to befriend! It’s not your shot!”

            “Yeah, Malfoy. Leave her alone,” Harry agreed. “You’re not her master or anything. Why does she have to listen to you only?”

            “Because she is in _my_ house and she is _my_ junior, so she lives under _my_ rules! Come away with me!” Draco hissed and tugged her robe sleeve harder. Jude didn’t want to cause a riot like the one in the Potions class, and she definitely did not want to create anymore trouble. She followed him quietly.

            “Unhand her, you creep!” Ron said, hitting Draco squarely on the shoulder to free Jude’s sleeve from his grasp. “You’ve done enough snobby damage for one day! She’s our friend!”

            “No Slytherin intern of mine is making friends with Mudbloods, Halflings and poor penniless wizards like you!” Draco shouted and pushed Ron aside. Harry tried to stop them from fighting but they were too tangled with each other that it was hard for him to separate them. Draco still had his hand on Jude’s sleeve and unknowingly, when he tried to push Ron away with that hand, he accidentally pushed Jude too. Jude lost her balance and fell from her broom. She was well about 10 feet above the ground and she was falling fast. Harry was unable to catch her in time. She was falling closer and closer to the ground until…

            Until she suddenly felt herself stop falling. Holding her legs was Becka and holding her armpits was Rach. The trio stared at each other in disbelief. They were on the ground surrounded by their astonished housemates. They were surprised to find themselves actually standing on the grassy field without even a scratch on them. Their brooms fell on the grass in a careless heap. Their housemates exclaimed one by one.

            “That was incredible!”

            “Such speed! Such accuracy!”

            “You two were like a bolt of lightning!”

            “You girls don’t even need the broom! Where did you girls learn to fly?!”

            “We…We flew?” Rach and Becka asked.

            “Yes, you did! You girls practically just jumped off your brooms and caught her in the midair, then slowly floated down to the ground! How did you do that?” Angelica exclaimed.

            “I…I don’t know…We just saw Jude falling down and our first instinct was to save her. I have no idea…”

            Becka’s explanation was cut short when Prof. McGonagalle appeared in the field looking quite furious.

            “What is going on here?” she demanded. “You better have a good explanation about this misbehaviour in my office!”

            “It was Malfoy, ma’am!” Ron said as he ascended to the ground. “He pushed the new kid off her broom and…”

            “You started it!” Draco protested, also ascending to the ground. Harry came down last.

            “Enough! Not another word! Come to my office and then explain yourselves! March, all of you involved!”

            Quietly, Draco, Harry, Ron and the trio trailed behind Prof. McGonagalle. It was obvious that they’re going to lose a lot of marks for this first day of school. Jude felt quite down. This was the worst day of her schooling year.

            “Don’t look now, but I think someone’s watching us,” Rach whispered to her girlfriends in front of and behind her. Jude and Becka turned to look. She was right.

            There, at a distance away in the castle corridor, Prof. Dumbledore and Prof. Snape were watching the trio. Prof. Snape had those pair of cold, tunnel-dark eyes at Jude again.


	4. Hearts A-Bloomin'

            November was drawing near. Winter became wickedly freezing. Even the winter cloaks draped over their robes were useless to the students of Hogwarts. The trio had to wear double layer of clothing before putting on their robes _and_ their winter cloaks. And for the first time in their 12-year life, they’ve seen real snow falling, up close and personal.

            The trio became famous within a fortnight of their arrival to Hogwarts and their fame has been dragged on ever since. Draco’s cauldron explosion incident was not easily forgotten, and neither was the incident on Rach and Becka flying in the air to save Jude from falling to her death.

            Life was still not easy for Jude. She still had the tendency to blunder, especially in Potions, and Draco and Tony had to work hard to earn back those lost points, much to Draco’s annoyance. Either she burst her cauldron or she transfigurated a quill into something outrageous. Becka occasionally had her misgivings, but she wasn’t as serious as Jude, and she was in good terms with her seniors Harry, Ron and Hermione and Darren’s sister Angelica, who was also sorted to Gryffindor. Rach stood out from the rest. She earned a lot of points for being the smartest kid among her Ravenclaws and everyone looked up at her as the future Top Student of the Year, which kind of threatens Hermione’s position.

            “Light, Levi, meet me at the field at 6 o’clock sharp tonight,” Prof. Snape said one day after Potions class. “And bring your other friend too, that Yearne girl.”

            “Yes, sir,” Becka replied.

            “Why?” Jude asked, much to the students’ horror. They were surprised to see someone who dares to question Prof. Snape’s orders. Tony took her aside before she starts asking more questions. Luckily Prof. Snape ignored her.

            “I’ll see you then, Light, Levi. Be punctual,” Prof. Snape said before gathering his books and left the lab. Jude wanted to ask more but Tony grabbed her just in time. Draco went over to Jude with a sour face and said, “Now you’ve done it, new kid! You want to know why he called for you and that dunderhead Levi? What he’s trying to tell you is you both got detention! Nice going, new kid!”

            “Clear off, Draco! It’s none of your business!” Ron Weasley growled. “And stop calling her ‘new kid’! She has a name here!” Jude glared back at Draco, giving him the same message with her eyes, although she felt bad about making herself black-listed.

            “Lots of luck, new kid! You’re gonna need it,” Draco hissed before leaving the lab. Becka glared at Draco too before she came up to Jude and patted her shoulder. Jude sat with a plop on her stool and sighed.

            “Hey, Jude,” Harry said encouragingly. “It’s not so bad, really. Plenty of people get detention from Prof. Snape. You’re not the only one.”

            “I’m the only one from the East, that is!” Jude muttered as she cleared the mess her failed potion created.

            “It might not be a detention,” Becka said as she helped her. “Rach is going too yet she’s the smartest person among us and earns the most points. So far I don’t remember her and I losing any major points.”  

            “I’m going to kick her off my stand if it is the last thing I do!” Hermione grumbled as she got ready to leave. “Never in my whole life have I met someone so…so smarty-pants like that no good…”

            “Rach? Forget it, Mione. You’ll never topple her off,” Becka said in an as-a-matter-of-fact way. “She got straight A’s in her primary school and she was among the Top Three in her class. You’re wasting your time.”

            “I’ll waste my whole life if I want to! Nobody gets the better of me! Nobody!”

            “Uh-oh. Someone’s valedictorian title is in jeopardy,” Ron teased, which earned him a sock on his head.

            “What’s her problem?” Jude asked, surprised.

            “We had a combined class with Rach’s during Herbology,” Becka explained, “and Rach answered Prof. Sprout’s questions so in-detailed, no one thought that Hermione could ever top that up. Hermione sorta flipped her gourd over it. So, I’ll see you at the field tonight then.”

            “Yeah,” Jude fell into a glum. If it really was a detention, then this is just her day.

                                                                        *

            Tony paced up and down. He glanced at the clock on the Slytherin common room wall. 6.05 p.m. ‘Jude and her friends should be at the field by now,’ he thought worriedly. ‘What will happen to her? What’s going on at the field?’

            “Do you think she’ll be alright, Max? I’m worried. I’m scared that Prof. Snape’s gonna dig a hole and bury them alive or something. After all, it is a field.”

            Max whined. He had quite good terms with Tony, so when Jude asked Tony to baby-sit Max, Max did not hesitate to follow him. Tony didn’t mind baby-sitting Max. In fact, he liked it. He’d do anything for Jude. Ever since that fateful day when she save him from being choked to death by that Bertie Bott’s Bean, his heart became more than just gratitude for her. At first, it used to be gratitude, until that day when he saw her falling asleep on the common room sofa after reading some sort of Muggle novel. She was wearing a silky, quite transparent nightgown and had her long waist-length hair down, its dark brown colour shone under the light of the fire. Her skin was slightly tanned and was smooth and scar-less, unlike his. By then he knew, he had fallen in love with her. He wanted to have a ‘go’ on her there and then but his conscience got the better of him.

            He blushed terribly at that thought and slapped himself out of it. He stroked Max to distract himself. Hesitantly, he asked the German Shepherd dog, “Do you think your mistress would like me for who I am and not who I was?”

            “In your dreams, Brixius,” Draco’s cold, sarcastic voice sent a pain into his ear. He turned around and saw Draco grinning from ear to ear along with his pathetic-looking henchmen. Draco dismissed them and sat proudly on the sofa beside him.

            “Bug off, Malfoy. Nobody asked for your opinion,” Tony muttered, trying to hide his still-red face.

            “Nobody asked you to take it, anyway,” Draco sneered and pulled a tongue at the growling Max. Obviously the dog had no intention to have any good terms with Draco. Draco stared at Tony for a while and said, “If you’re thinking of having the new kid as your girlfriend, save it for someone else.”

            Tony turned sharply to Draco and demanded, “What do you mean?”

            “I mean what I meant. You can’t have Light.”

            “Don’t tell me you…”

            “Not that I want to impose, but yes, I got my eyes set on our dear new intern, Judith Cecelia Light.”

            “Cecelia? I didn’t know she had a middle name,” Tony was taken aback at upon hearing this new information.

            “Oh, I know lots, my dear Brixius boy. I knew right before she even came to this school. I did a thorough research on her when I heard wind about her being chosen to study in this school. Father has been a very big help in entertaining my interest on her. She is perfect.”

            “Perfect? What demented plans you have in mind here?” Tony eyed at him suspiciously.

            “Oh, you are so rude! My plans are never demented. They are ingenious. I am going to win her heart and once she has reached the Status, we are going to be so perfect. Father would be glad to have Light as his daughter-in-law. Think of the heirs we’ll create.”

            “Then why did you treat her like a piece of dirt if you like her so much? You seemed pretty mean to her ever since she got here.”

            “It really breaks my heart to do this to her, really, but that is the only way I can discipline her and make her stronger at heart. I want to make her immune to insults and nastiness if she ever wants to step into the real world of witchcraft and wizardry, and especially into the Malfoy family. Coldness at heart and power in the hands is the ultimate status of my family.”

            “If you were to succeed in making her cold and heartless, she won’t like you anymore than you do!”

            “Oh, I have ways of melting cold hearts. Besides, I can even train her to melt her heart only for me.”

            “You are so demented,” Tony glared at him in contempt.    

            “Say whatever you want. I call it the perfect romance.”

            “I hope she’s OK down there at the field,” Tony sighed as he continued stroking Max.

            “Do you want to find out?”

                                                                        *

            “Why would Prof. Snape want Becka and her friends to go to the field? I just don’t get it.”

            “Ron, you’ve been complaining about it since the past 15 minutes. Give it a break.”

            Harry, Ron and Hermione were in the Gryffindor common room enjoying the warm fire. Hermione was burying herself in loads of books she borrowed from the library and Ron and Harry were seated together trying to finish their homework. Only that Ron’s mind was not on his homework, but on the trio and their mysterious meeting with Prof. Snape, much to Harry’s exasperation.

           “But don’t you think it’s weird?” Ron insisted, falling onto his knees and putting his hands on Harry’s knees suddenly. “I mean, Becka had never done a single offence since the first day of school, that Slytherin girl Jude had only lost a couple of points, which I’m sure Malfoy has earned them back, and that smart Ravenclaw girl Rach has been like the genius after Mione. There is no way they deserve detention. What’s going on here?”

            “Come on, Ron,” Harry said, flicking Ron’s hands away, “Snape has a perfectly good reason for calling those three girls to the field, whether it’s detention or not.”

            “I hope it is,” Hermione said grudgingly. “I hope Snape hurts her real bad.”

            “Oh, please don’t let him hurt my Jude and Becka!” Ron said woefully.

            “ _Your_ Jude and Becka? Ron, what’s going on here? I don’t exactly get the picture,” Harry said in a sly tone.

            Ron cupped his mouth shut and blushed almost as red as his hair. He lowered his head and remained silent.

            “Don’t tell me you have a crush on our Becka _and_ that Slytherin girl Jude!” Hermione said in horror and disbelief.

            “So…So what if I am? It’s not a crime now, is it?!”

            “Well, to have a crush on Becka or Jude, that’s normal, but having a crush on _both_ of them? I don’t know…” Harry wrinkled his nose doubtfully.

            “I know, I know, I’m a pervert. I’m a two-timing jerk. But what can I do? I’m mesmerized at Becka’s beauty and her maroon hair…oh, it is so lovely! To top it up, she’s sweet and kind and all that. She is like a red-haired angel! I love her so much!”

            “Luckily she doesn’t have the same red hair like you,” Hermione snorted, “or you’ll swoon over her even more.”

            “I can understand you liking Becka,” Harry agreed. “She is quite beautiful. But what’s Jude’s case?”

            “Oh, I don’t know. She’s also quite pretty, and she had the guts to defy Malfoy. Well, I suppose it’s because of a certain aura in her. You know, she had that sort of…aura, that sort of charm, that sort of…charisma! Oh, I don’t know how to explain it! But every time I see her, it’s as if you can’t keep your eyes away from her! Don’t you feel that way, Harry?”

            “Come to think of it, she does have that sort of attraction. It feels like looking at a Veela or some sort…”

            “That’s it! That’s exactly how I felt! I’m sure she had the bloodline of a Veela! I know it in my bones!”

            “No wonder you were suicidal enough to stare at the Slytherins table,” Hermione groaned in exasperation.

            “I got to know what is going on at the field! I’m going to take a peek!” Ron got up suddenly and rushed to the door. Harry followed suite—he didn’t want his best friend to get into any serious trouble. Hermione had no intention to go at first. Ron turned around and asked, “Mione, come on! Aren’t you going?”

            “I’m not going with you to see you drool over some new intern,” she replied indignantly.

            “Just come along for the kicks! What if it really is a detention? You don’t wanna miss the satisfaction of seeing your archenemy being punished now, do you?”

            Hermione didn’t have to be asked twice. She got up at a thrice and trailed behind the two boys.

            Behind Ron’s back, she glared at him with a hint of jealousy.


	5. Hearts A-Bloomin' More

            “You’re late, Light.”

            “Sorry, sir, but, for your information, it’s not easy getting here.”

            It was true. Although she had settled in Hogwarts for two months now, she still wasn’t used to finding her way alone around the castle, especially when the stairs were alive and moving and when the paintings across the hall and corridors were actually talking and all, which really freaked her out. Peeves, the school poltergeist, was also much of a nuisance when he bugged her with falling objects and loud noises. She even almost ran into Argus Filch and his annoying Mrs. Norris. If it weren’t the knight in one of the paintings, Sir Cardigan, she would’ve still been lost. The knight was pretty interesting though, with his vanity and all.

            “Sit down, Light, while we wait for the others to arrive,” Prof. Snape ordered.

            “The others?” Jude was curious.

            “There are two more teachers who will join us,” Becka whispered.

            “Where were you anyway, Jude?” Rach asked, sitting closer to her.

            “Three words,” Jude raised three fingers. “Stairs. Paintings. Peeves.”

            “Oh, that bad, huh?” Rach grinned. Jude nodded. Becka giggled.

            After a long while, two shadowy figures appeared. The trio heard the two figures saying “Lumos” and their wands lit. They could their faces much clearer now. There were two men: one was the DADA teacher Remus Lupin and another one whom they didn’t know. He had very wild hair, which reminded Jude of Tasuki from the Fushigi Yuugi comic book. He was quite clean, as if he washed himself just enough for this gathering. He was slightly tanned and looked very wild indeed, almost like a hooligan or someone who just escaped from prison. But despite all that, he was strikingly handsome. So handsome that it almost contradicted with his wildness.

 

            That was when the trio noticed that that man and Prof. Snape were pretty hostile to each other. They gave each other a very venomous look before focusing onto the trio. Prof. Lupin smiled at the girls in his suave way.

            “All present? Good. I’m glad you’re all here,” Prof. Lupin said sweetly and then gestured the handsome man to come forward. “Girls, let me introduce to you, this is Sirius Black. He’s sort of an old friend of Hogwarts and just so happens to be Harry Potter’s godfather.”

            “How do you do?” Sirius greeted and smiled his best smile. “Pleased to meet the three of you.”

            Prof. Snape stepped up in front of all the men, much to Sirius’ great contempt, and said, “Do you know why you’re here, girls?”

            “Uhh…no,” the trio said in unison.

            “As you can see, there have been a lot of weird incidents here and most of them are related to you three. Do you still remember what Prof. Dumbledore said about you girls being special?”

            The trio nodded their heads.

            “That’s because you are. You three are the only ones being chosen in your very inconspicuous country called Borneo to be here. No one in your country had the privilege of studying here. In fact, of all the Asian countries, you’re the only ones.”

            “Come on, Severus, cut the chase and let’s start already,” Sirius groaned, which earned him a cold glare from Prof. Snape.

            “If you do not wish to stay, you can just leave, Black,” Prof. Snape hissed in a very cold tone, his hand dangerously on his wand. Sirius was getting ready to get his when Prof. Lupin came between them.

            “Come, come now, Sirius, Severus. There’s no need for childish fight,” Prof. Lupin tried to calm them down, then turned to the trio and said, “Girls, the reason you’re here is because Prof. Dumbledore gave us perfect instructions to train you girls on more in-depth issues on magic. The things you’ve learnt in school are just basic things for your every wizardry-day life. The things we are going to teach you are essential for your future.”

            “Our future? You mean, after finished studying in this school, we’re still going to hang around in this place, never to return?” Becka asked.

            “Well, I wouldn’t put it that way, girls, but the fact is, you’re not who you think you are now. You’re never going fit in the Muggle world anymore. This is going to be your life from now on.”

            It took quite a while for the trio to take it in. Not normal kids anymore? To be forever stuck in a world far from existence and be apart from their normal daily lives? This wasn’t just a fairy tale anymore. This was real. That explains all the mysterious goings-on, well, for now.  

            “So…what’s our lesson for tonight?” Jude was the first to comprehend the whole issue.

            “Glad you understand,” Prof. Lupin smiled in relief. “Tonight, our first lesson will be about flying.”

            “Flying? The broomstick flying or the other kind of flying?” Rach asked.

            “The other kind,” Prof. Snape said with his arms folded across his chest. “One of us will train one of you. Light, you come with me.”

            Jude obeyed. She saw Rach being taken by Prof. Lupin and Becka being taken by the Sirius guy. Prof. Snape faced her and said, “Alright, Light. Your first lesson will be flying. All you have to do is focus all your powers and will yourself to float off the ground. Go on. Let’s see how you can do this one.”

            Jude could feel the mockery in Prof. Snape’s voice, but she refused to be intimidated by it. She closed her eyes and focused. She focused real hard and willed really hard to get off the ground. After much time spent, she still found herself on her own two feet on the snowy grass.

            “Um…Prof. Snape, I…” Jude’s voice was cut short by Prof. Snape’s sharp order.

            “Concentrate, Light! Focus every ounce of power in your body!”

            “Beg your pardon, sir, but…that’s what I’ve been trying for the past goodness knows how many minutes ago!”

            “You’re not trying hard enough. Try again.”

            Prof. Snape can be really harsh and demanding sometimes. She tried again, this time she concentrated even harder. She remembered the cauldron incident. If it was anger that triggered her to perform such magic—and if it really was her who did it—she might be able to use this as her tool to fly.

            Meanwhile, the others were doing pretty well. They found it quite easy to actually float a few inches off the ground for a few seconds before falling back to the ground. Prof. Lupin smiled and said to Rach, “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it? You just have to focus. Concentrate well and you can do it.”

            “Gee, I didn’t know I could actually do that flying thing again,” Rach said, surprised. “After that incident, I tried to do it again but I couldn’t. I guess that was instinct.”

            “Now it’s intention and will. You and your friends are different from other students in this school and you have more privilege and access to higher magic. Now, let’s do it again. Higher this time.”

            Jude looked grudgingly at her girlfriends who were having so much fun floating off the ground. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She reminded herself about the day Draco made her so pissed off. She reminded herself about how betrayed she felt when her so-called best friend Hannah took the guy of her dreams away from her. The anger inside her burned and she could feel the change. She opened her eyes slightly and was happy to see herself floating a foot off the ground. She laughed out loud and cheered at her success, which was short-lived. No sooner she lifted her arms in glee, than she immediately fell back to the ground.

            “Are you OK?” Becka called out, concerned. Rach asked the same.

            “I’m OK. Don’t worry,” Jude replied as she rubbed her aching butt.

            “Light, you must not let your mind go astray,” Prof. Snape said coldly without even as much as a concerned look on his face. “You have to channel all your powers into your mind and project them out to your will. This is not a game. Now, get up. I will not tolerate any dilly-dallying.”

            Jude got up, pouting. She felt quite hurt by his words. At least her girlfriends gave her a kind word or two when things really sucked, but this teacher is ridiculous. She tried it again. This time she added another angry issue to her head: Prof. Snape’s lack of kindness.

            “You really care about your friend, huh?” Sirius asked Becka after she took one last look to see if Jude was OK.

            “Yeah. We’ve been pretty much best friends throughout our entire primary school years. It’s very seldom for people to see us apart.”

            “I see,” Sirius replied briefly.

            “You look kinda pissed at Prof. Snape just now. Childhood grudge?”

            “More like a permanent war between us. He has been an archenemy to me and my friends for years now. He’s very bad grudge-holder.”

            “You and your friends?” Becka was curious.

            “Remus, James and I. For your information, Harry and I go way back. His father, James, was a very good friend of mine.”

            “Oh, OK. That’s nice to hear,” Becka smiled.

            “Holy shit, Becka! Would you look at that!!”

           Becka turned to where Rach was pointing. Her eyes bulged wide open. There, above Prof. Snape’s head, was Jude. She floated in the mid air at about more than 5 feet above the ground and Prof. Snape had to look up to see her. Judging by Prof. Snape’s slight change on his face, it was obvious that he was also surprised and shocked at what he saw. Jude’s face was in a daze, as if she was oblivious about everything around her. Sirius and Prof. Lupin were equally surprised. Then, all of a sudden, Jude’s body burst into flames, turning her into a human torch.

            Jude didn’t know what was going on around her. She could only feel the fire inside her body raging and burning like hell, searing through her flesh and bones. She couldn’t control it. It was so hot and torturing. She felt so horrible that she thought she was going to die there and then. Finally, after much struggle, she let out a strangled scream and fell onto the snowy grass.

            Sirius and Prof. Lupin rushed towards Prof. Snape, trying to put out the flames with their wands but in vain. This wasn’t normal fire that can just be simply put out. Even when Jude tried to roll over the snow, the fire simply will not go out. Rach and Becka wanted to help too, but they were stopped by Sirius. Jude was already in a very bad shape and he didn’t think he would want to jeopardize more people.

            Unexpectedly, Prof. Snape muttered a spell to his hands and started peeling Jude’s burning clothes, stripping her naked. He flung the fiery robes in a careless heap and went for her clothes. He stripped her down to her underwear, which, to Becka and Rach’s surprise, was a silky black. Still Jude’s body continued to burn. It was as if the fire started from inside her body. Prof. Snape then removed his robes and beat the fire with it, chanting a spell as he went.

            “Come on, Lupin, Black! Don’t just stand there! Take off your robes and start beating!” Prof. Snape ordered. Prof. Lupin did as he was told. He and Sirius removed their robes and beat the flames out while they chanted their spells too. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, they put out the fire. Jude was curled up like a helpless child, sobbing and whimpering for the fire to stop burning her. Prof. Snape wrapped his robes around Jude’s naked body, covering her up.

            “Hey, kid! You OK?” Sirius asked worriedly. Jude didn’t answer him. She was still crying.

            “Is that a trick question, Black? Step aside,” Prof. Snape said coldly as he stood up, carrying the crying Jude in his arms. “That’ll be all for tonight, girls. Go back to your dormitories.”

            “Sir, is she going to be OK?” Becka asked worriedly. “Can we come with you to check her out, or…”

            “Go back, Levi. There’s nothing for you to see.”

            Becka wanted to protest but Rach took her shoulder and shook her head. She sighed and followed Rach back inside the castle. Sirius and Prof. Lupin trailed behind Prof. Snape as he carried Jude and rushed quickly to the Hospital Wing. Jude buried her face close to Prof. Snape’s chest as she continued sobbing. The incident really scared her, but somehow, she felt protected and secure in Prof. Snape’s arms. She could hear Prof. Snape’s heart beating away, and a few moments later, she felt her heart throbbing in her ear and her face red and hot. She was blushing terribly.

            “Oh dear, her face had gone red,” Prof. Lupin looked at Jude worriedly. “You better hurry up. She might be burning up again.”

            Prof. Snape didn’t answer him, but it was obvious that he has quickened his pace. As expected, Madame Pomfrey fussed over Jude the minute she saw Prof. Snape entering the Hospital Wing. She shooed the men out and removed Prof. Snape’s robes that wrapped around her body and rubbed really cold ointment on her. But that didn’t bring down her heavy-throbbing heart, which was going almost 100 beats per second, and her blushing face. She could still feel Prof. Snape’s arms around her. The feeling felt so familiar. It felt just like the way she felt when she met her crush during primary school. Exactly the same.

            ‘God, I’m in love with my own house teacher!’ Jude exclaimed in her heart.

                                                                        *

            “Did you see that? Did you just see that?!” Ron exclaimed, his eyes as big as ping-pong balls.

            “My stars, she really burst into flames!” Hermione exclaimed too. “And I’m positive Prof. Snape didn’t do anything. He was as surprised as the rest of them.”

            “They really are The Ones, especially Jude. She is the ultimate!” Harry tried to take in everything he saw. It was too outrageous beyond compare.

            “Oh, Merlin, I’m beginning to love her and Becka more!” Ron said dramatically.

            On another side, Draco looked very excited. Tony was still trying to ease his shock.

            “Did you just see what I saw? She is definitely going to be mine!”

            “This is not happening! This is definitely so not happening!” Tony almost wheezed out his words. “Anyone would die in that circumstance!”

           “Anyone but my Judith Cecelia Light! I am going to get her if it is the last thing I do!” Draco announced determinedly.

 

                                                                        *

            “Looks like you care a lot about that girl, don’t you, Severus?” Sirius said in a sly tone when they left the Hospital Wing.

            “Of course he cares,” Remus replied. “She’s a Slytherin, his own student. Why shouldn’t he care?”

            “I don’t mean care as in a teacher cares for a student type. I meant something more.”

            “Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Sirius. Severus would never go that far, right, Severus?”

             Severus didn’t reply.


	6. X'mas in Hogwarts

            “Merry Christmas, lassies! How’s school comin’, aye?”

            Hagrid has invited the trio together with Harry and his friends for tea at his old hut near the Forbidden Forest. The trio understood why was it so ‘forbidden’; it was so gloomily dark even in broad daylight and it had the spookiest aura that made her recoil from it every time she tried to set foot on it.

            “School’s pretty OK, Hagrid. Lots of homework, lots of practices, lots of Prof. Snape…” Jude bit back her words before she started getting all dreamy. Since that fateful incident, the nightly practices were one of her most favourite moments, after Potions class. She hoped no one paid attention to her—it would be embarrassing to let the other know about her crush with Prof. Snape.

            “Aye, getting’ in trouble with ol’ Severus, ain’t ye, lass? Ye’ll git used to it sooner or later. ‘Av a rock cake now,aye?”

            Harry and Ron wanted to warn the trio but, too late, they’ve already taken one. The rock cakes really were like rocks. The trio felt that if they take one more bite, their teeth will fall off.

            “‘Av ye lassies got yer Christmas gifts?” Hagrid asked, sipping from his tea cup, which was as big as a soup bowl.

            “Nope, not yet. Anyway, how on earth can they mail stuff here? There’s not a post office in sight!” Becka complained, quite dismayed for not getting a present.

            “Ye ‘avn’t told ‘em lassies about the Owl Post, Harry?”

            “Sorry, girls, I forgot to tell you,” Harry said apologetically. “In Hogwarts, everything here is done by owls. They mail our letters and packages to and fro for us, not normal postmen.”

            “Oh, right. The magical world. How could we forget?” Rach lit up.

            “Don’t ye fret, lassies. Ol’ Hagrid ‘ere has helped ye a bit. I sent yer folks ‘n owl last week an’ this came yesterday.”

            Hagrid went to the back of the hut and rummaged a little. He took out three parcels wrapped in really beautiful present paper. Jude got a round parcel wrapped in silver and gold wrapping paper tied in a bronze bow, Rach got a rectangular parcel wrapped in silver blue and Becka got a square parcel wrapped in white wrapping paper with black polka-dots. They fingered their gifts with interest.  

            “Go on, lassies. Open yer gifts now. It’s Christmas! It won’t hurt ye if ye open ‘em presents.”

            The trio opened their Christmas presents and gaped in awe. Rach got a book on spells, and not just any spells—they’re spells that are used for wizards and witches of high power and status. On the brown leathered book were golden bold words written in Old English Text: SPELLS OF THE ADVANCED.

            Jude’s present was a lovely crystal ball that shone under the sun. It was really beautiful and sparkling clean, like it has never been used before.

            “Wow! Crystal ball! Your dad is thinking of letting you take Divination or what?” Ron asked, fascinated.

            “What’s that?” Jude asked the ever-knowing senior Hermione Granger.

            “It’s an elective subject. You’ll learn it when you’re in the third year. Teaches you how to do palm-reading and all that crap. If you’re logical enough, you won’t take it.”

            “Interesting! I’m taking it!” Jude exclaimed with glee, much to Hermione’s dismay. “What’s yours, Becka?”

            Becka opened her present. She saw something transparent, like a piece of glass. When she held it up to see, she saw a transparent velvet cloak in the faded colour of pink. It was like actually holding up a piece of pink cloth made out of glass.

            “The Invisible Cloak. The female version of the Invisible Cloak!” Harry exclaimed, his eyes gazing at it in wonder.

            “Invisible Cloak? You mean if I wear this, I’ll become invisible?” Becka was astounded.

            “Yes, yes, of course! So far only Harry has it!” Ron also joined in the excitement. Becka eyed at the cloak naughtily.

            “I don’t like the looks of this,” Hermione said in dread. “I must say, a book on spells would be much more appropriate, although wasted on a person like Rachel Yearne.”

            Rach ignored her. She didn’t mind criticism. She thought of Hermione as a sore loser anyway.

            “There’ll be a Christmas dinner tonite’,” Hagrid said as he poured them more tea. “Then will be the present-givin’ ceremony. Aye, it’ll be lotsa fun, this ceremony. I can’t wait to sees what ev’ryone gits fer themselves.”

            “Which reminds me!” Jude suddenly lit up. “I haven’t got presents for you guys! And Tony too! Oh, I am such a terrible friend!”

            “Yes! Oh crap, we feel terrible! What are we gonna do?” Becka exclaimed. Rach nodded in agreement.

            “I know a place where you can get your presents in a jiffy,” Ron said as he rushed out of the hut. The others followed suite. Ron stood in front of the Forbidden Forest and let out a loud whistle. Moments later, a rumble of a car was at a distance. The rumbling came closer and closer until the owner of the rumbling noise appeared. It was a blue Cadillac, quite worn away and old, but still in reasonable shape.

            “Hey, it’s your dad’s old car!” Harry said in amazement, stroking the car.

            “Yup, she’s still around. I wonder how she managed living in such a creepy place,” Ron said proudly.

            “This…This car drives on its own!” Rach said, quite surprised.

            “She has quite a mind of her own, mind you. But let’s cut the chase. I’m gonna use this car to take you to one of our best places to get your Christmas presents. Honeydukes!”

            “Honeydukes?” Becka asked curiously.

            “A wizardry sort of shopping spot,” Harry said to the trio. “You’ll love it, trust me.”

            The next thing they knew, the trio was on Ron’s car, driving across the sky and through the clouds towards the direction of Honeydukes. Hermione refused to follow as she would not tolerate hanging around with her archenemy. They hollered joyously; it was their ultimate dream to be in close contact with the air instead of stuck up in airplane looking out of protective windows. They let out their hands to touch the clouds and enjoyed the wind blowing swiftly at their faces. They didn’t care if it messed up their hair; they were having fun. They hollered out loud for all they cared, “Wee~~!! Woah~~!!”

            Finally, after quite a drive, they have reached Honeydukes. It was equally interesting as Diagon Alley, only that it was filled with more people than the former. Ron landed the car at an alley secluded from the wizards and witches’ eyes. Ron said that he didn’t want to alert anybody—no one in the wizarding world has exactly seen a real car before. As they got off the Cadillac, the trio oohed at the scenery before them.

            “Alright, girls. Run along and knock yourselves out,” Harry said and checked to see if the trio has brought their money pouches along. “You won’t get lost so easily in here, don’t worry. We won’t be hanging out with you—don’t want to spoil the surprise. We’ll meet you at this shop.”

            After looking at the sign of the bar house, the trio nodded and rushed off to their shopping. The trio was having the time of their lives. They went into book shops, magical boutiques, stationery shops, broomstick and magical items shops, and even junk food stores and a variety of gift shops. Each shop was crowded with people—it was like a stampede. The trio had to squeeze their way through and shove their way out of the massive crowd after having done their shopping, gasping for air.

            “Man! They’re like total monsters!” Becka groaned. “They are so worse than Muggle shoppers!”

            “Well, look at the bright side,” Rach said as she lifted her nicely wrapped gift parcels, “at least we’ve got presents for our friends in Hogwarts their gifts, including you guys, not that I’m telling you what I’ve got for you. _And_ we got gifts for our folks. Have you got everything?”

            “Totally!” Becka beamed as she showed Rach her gift parcels.

            “What about you, Jude?”

            “Harry…Ron…Tony…Hermione…” Jude mumbled as she pointed her gifts one by one. Then she lit up and said, “Oh yeah! I forgot! Could you guys wait a sec? I forgot one more gift.”

            Rach and Becka nodded. No way were they going back with Jude together back into the mob of shoppers. They waited outside as they looked at Jude slipping into a robes shop. 5 minutes later, she came out with a box wrapped in solid black present paper with silver stars and moons on it.

            “What did you get for whom?” Becka asked curiously.

            “Not telling you,” Jude said and stacked it above her other parcels. Jude grinned back when Rach and Becka eyed at her suspiciously; she was determined not to let her girlfriends know who will be her mystery Christmas character.

            The trio moved towards the bar house where they promised to meet Harry and the gang. On the way, they noticed that the passers-by were looking at them weirdly again.

            “We got another row of people giving us the ‘eye’ again,” Rach said between clenched teeth.

            “Just ignore them. It will go away,” Jude replied back the same way.

            “You make them sound like they’re some sort of disease!” Becka giggled.

            They quickened their pace and were glad when they saw the bar house sign. They walked in as fast as could and sighed in relief when they saw Ron and Harry waving at them at a distance. They sat with a plop on the chairs and placed their parcels under the table.

            “You girls shopped up a storm,” Harry looked under the table and gazed in wonder at the amount of parcels they had.

            “It’s a girl’s thing,” Becka said. “So what do they have here? I’m feeling like I’ve just ran across a desert out there!”

            “Don’t worry, my sweets,” Ron announced proudly, “I’ve got you girls one of our best drinks in this stop. Here you go, butter beer in the house!”

            “Butter beer?” Rach wrinkled her nose at the weird-looking yellowish-brown drink.

            “Don’t worry, Rach,” Harry said. “It’s not entirely alcoholic. It taste more like bittersweet honey milk or some sort.”

            “Not real beer?” Jude sounded disappointed and took a sip. “Yum, not bad! Too bad it’s not real beer.”

            “Ignore her,” Becka said as she took a sip too. “She has a small obsession with alcohol. No biggie. This is good. Really good!”

            All of a sudden, Rach felt an aura around her. It felt exactly like the way the people gave them the ‘eye’. She looked up and saw a boy about 14 years of age. He had steely blue hair with streaks of burgundy. One of his eyes was a different colour than the other. One was dark brown and the other was an abnormal shade of yellow. He was staring at them without even so much as blinked.

            “Err…Harry, I think we’re being stared at,” Rach whispered. Harry looked up and saw the weird-looking boy too. The boy had no intention to stop staring at them.

            “Uh-oh, warlock. Totally bad news,” Harry said as he got up. “Come, let’s get out of here.”

            The trio gulped down their last bit of butter beer and gathered their parcels, making a dash for it. Before they were able to open the door to leave, the boy swoshed right in front of them, blocking their way. It took him less than a second to do so, much to the trio’s surprise. Harry and Ron were getting ready with their wands to strike when all of a sudden, the boy pinned his fore finger of each hands onto their chests and stared at the trio more intently. Harry and Ron struggled but, shockingly, they couldn’t move an inch.

            “You are The Ones, right? I’m positively sure you are.”

            “What? What do you mean by The Ones? We don’t know who you mean!” Becka said, frustrated.

            “You can run away from me and the rest of the world, but you cannot run away from your destiny. Your destiny is with the Boy Who Lived. That is your destiny. That is your life for eternity.”

            “Our destiny…? With Harry…?” Jude asked, confused. “What is all this crap?!”

            The boy let Harry and Ron go and disappeared out of sight among the crowd outside the bar house, just as mysteriously as he appeared. Ron came up to Jude and Becka and asked if they were alright.

            “What does he mean by us being with Harry?” Becka demanded.

            “You knew about Harry being the Boy Who Lived?” Ron was surprised.

            “Our parents told us a little about him,” Rach said. “Harry, do you know what he meant?”

            Harry remained silent as he watched out to roads.

                                                                        *

            “Hey, kids!” Hagrid beamed as he came out of his hut at upon hearing Ron’s Cadillac. “‘Av a good time at Honeydukes, aye?”

            “Yes! It was great!” Jude agreed, getting off the Cadillac. They watched as the car drove off into the Forbidden Forest by itself.

            “Except that we came across a weirdo,” Becka huffed unhappily.

            The trio told their quite disturbing encounter with the warlock. Hagrid rubbed his chin considerably.

            “Now dat’s a serious demented lad. He must’ve been in a booze fer quite sometime. Don’t worry, lass. Things kin be pretty weird ‘ere, but ol’ Hagrid kin assure ye lassies, der ain’t nothin’ tuh be concerned about. Run along now, lassies. Christmas dinner is about tuh start. Ye lay yer present under the tree nice an’ good now.”

            At the word ‘Christmas dinner’, the trio forgot about there unpleasant encounter with the warlock and dashed towards the castle. Hagrid lay a hand on Harry and said, “It’s best if those lassies ain’t knowin’ anythin’ yet, Harry.”

            “I know, Hagrid. I know.”

                                                                        *

            Everyone has gathered at the Great Hall. Most of the Hogwarts students have gone home for the Christmas seasons—there weren’t so many students around. The trio put their presents under the beautifully candle-lit Christmas tree along with the other gifts. They giggled when they saw the empty knight suits sang out-of-tune carols and laughed out loud when Peeves sneaked into the knight suits and dubbed his own vulgar lyrics into the carols, resulting into a very angry Argus Filch chasing him around, trying to get him.

            The Christmas tree was very beautiful indeed, with well-lit candles floating around the tree. It was decorated with snow and candy canes and all other lovely stuff you can think of. On top of the tree was a real shining star, rumoured by many that it was the Astrology teacher Prof. Sinistra who plucked it right out of the night sky. Of course, Harry said, it had to one of Prof. Dumbledore’s famous conjured up materials.

            All the teachers were present in the Great Hall, including the cold statue Prof. Snape, much to Jude’s glee. Everyone sat together at the staff’s table, the students facing the teachers. Jude instinctively sat in front of Prof. Snape, earning a very sly look from her girlfriends. She couldn’t care less anymore. So what if they found out about her secret crush? Not that it’ll do them any good. Everyone present laughed joyfully as they ate, sharing stories to one another. Occasionally they made a toast, using the ‘Wingardium Leviosa’ spell to levitate their goblets and hit each other’s goblets. Jude tried to hit hers with Prof. Snape’s but she was still wobbly about the whole thing and all of the goblets looked so alike that she couldn’t find which one belongs to his, much to her disappointment.

            After dinner, the prize-giving ceremony was on. Prof. Dumbledore went to the Christmas tree, chanted a sorting spell and the presents floated up from here to there before floating down slowly to its rightful receivers. Everyone got at least one Christmas gift. They hollered ‘Merry Christmas’ to the teachers before leaving hurriedly to their dorms to open up their gifts. Prof. Snape was surprised to see that he actually got a gift for this occasion. He unwrapped the present to reveal a black cloth. When he held it up, it ran down to become a genuinely black robe. He noticed a card inside and read what it said:

HOPE YOU LIKE YOUR NEW ROBES. YOUR OLD ONE WAS KIND OF BURNT. SORRY

Yours truly, Judith Light

            Prof. Snape looked to find Jude. From afar he saw Jude smiling sheepishly at him before leaving the Great Hall, blushing from head to toe.

                                                                        *

            The trio has finished unwrapping their presents and thanking each other for the lovely thought. They were sitting on the stairs because they wanted to share this gift-opening occasion together. They opened their presents they got from their friends Harry and the gang and were surprised and interested by the outcome. The things the wizarding world can show them never failed to fascinate them. After fascinating themselves over all their gifts, the trio split up and went back to their dormitories. Needless to say, Becka—the ever-sweet Becka—hugged and thanked all her beloved seniors and Angelica for the lovely gift (being hugged by Becka definitely sent Ron into the heavens). The trio also got gifts from Darren, so Rach thanked him on her and her friends’ behalf.

            Jude and Tony thanked each other for their Christmas presents. Too bad Tony didn’t get a hug from her. When Jude was about to retire to her bed, she saw Draco coming up to her with a small parcel behind his back.

            “Here, Light, for you,” Draco said, handing the parcel to Jude.

            “Why didn’t you just put it under the tree like everyone else?” Jude asked suspiciously.

            “I want to give it to you personally. Go on, do take it. After all, it is Christmas.”

            Jude hesitantly accepted the gift. She opened it and saw that it was a diamond-studded ring. It shone under the light of the fire of the common room. Jude felt awkward.

            “Oh, please. I can’t. It’s too expensive…”

            “Please, take it. It’s just one of my mother’s old rings. There is perfectly nothing to be awkward about.”

            “But…I…”

            “I have to insist, new kid. You don’t get this treatment from me any other day.”

            So saying, Draco took out the ring and slipped it into Jude’s right ring finger. Jude was speechless. She didn’t know what else to say. It was true that she’ll never get this same treatment twice. She’d better treasure it while it lasts.

            “Goodnight, Light. And Merry Christmas.”

            Without warning, Draco leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek before rushing off to his side of the dorm. Tony, who saw all this behind a wall, glared venomously at Draco. Draco smirked, giving him an I-win-another-point look.

            Jude went to bed with loads of mixed feelings in her heart.


	7. Quidditch Havoc

            Winter was over. Spring was near. The trio had their last fun under the snow and enjoyed themselves plucking the frozen icicles stuck on their house dorm window sills. Max the dog had wallowed on the snow and licked on icicles long enough to be eager for spring to come. Salem the cat was glad that spring was coming; the harsh winter forced him to constantly bask in the heat of the fireplace. Slipper the snake finally got out of hibernation from under Rach’s bed.

            Now that spring was here, the trio was bickering about what mates they will get for their pets. As they always say, spring is the season of prosperity and offspring-making. While they discussed, Harry and Ron came to them.

            “Hey, girls! You seemed happy and gay! Can’t wait for spring?”

            “Hi, Harry,” the trio greeted him in unison. Then Jude said, “We’re just discussing about getting our pets a mate.”

            “You have plenty of time to think for that later,” Harry chuckled. “Guess what? It’s Quidditch season again. You’re going to in for a blast. You can see how exciting the game will be once it’s here. I’m definitely going to win the Quidditch cup again.”

            “Quidditch?” the trio asked in unison again.

            “Oh, I’m sorry. You have no idea about it yet. It’s quite hard to explain. You’ll understand later when the game starts. I’m sure you’ll have a good time watching it. You can consider making it into the team next year if you want.”

            “Why next year? Why not this year?” Becka asked.

            “Quidditch is only for second years and above. You’re still learning broomstick flying this year, so, sorry to burst your bubble, girls,” Ron replied apologetically. The girls pouted, feeling quite disappointed.

            “Don’t worry, girls. Next year is not that long. Cheer up!” Harry grinned.

            “Of all the games, the first game has to refereed by that stupid Prof. Snape! Harry, I pity you,” Ron sighed as he patted Harry’s shoulder. Jude glared secretly at Ron, not liking to call her house teacher ‘stupid’. Ron noticed and quickly explained himself.

            “No offense, Jude, but you know how he favours your house. We Gryffindors are going to have a hard time with him around. The nerve of him lat year! He fouled us for no reason in particular! That was so lame! Everyone’s playing fair and square and yet he fouled us! Sorry, Jude my sweet, but I can’t seem to like that teacher.”

            Jude decided to put his complaints aside. Secretly, she looked forward to see Prof. Snape refreeing the game. She wanted to make sure he was wearing the new robes again, just every other day during Potions. She wanted to stare at his every feature and admire him as much as she can, especially his eyes. She missed those eyes.

            “Light,” Jude came back to reality when she heard Draco calling her. Draco gave her a warning look and called her to come to him through eye-contact.

            “Sorry, guys,” Jude said as she left her friends, “I gotta split.”

            “Humph! That Draco Malfoy!” Ron grumbled grudgingly. “One day, just one day, I’ll give him a good boot at his…”

            “Alright, alright, Ron. No point complaining over him. Come on, girls, let me show you the Quidditch equipment,” Harry offered. Rach and Becka were only too eager to go.

            “What have I told you about being with them?” Draco said in a very hostile voice as soon as Jude was near enough. He took her arm and dragged her well away from them.

            “I was with my girlfriends, Senior Malfoy,” Jude said as she wriggled her arm out of Draco’s arms. “They came by themselves. My girlfriends are like my friends since primary school. It’s not a crime to be with old friends now, is it?”

            “We are Slytherins. We do not cling on to the past and dwindle around other house students, even if they are our childhood playmates. We have to look at the future if we ever want to be ahead of everyone else.”

            “Do we have to be so hostile to everybody, Senior Malfoy? I’ve seen better ways to compete with other people than being complete Ice Queens and Ice Kings over them.”

            “You are to address me as ‘Draco’ from now on, and I expect you to support our team for the Quidditch game this spring,” Draco was obviously ignoring Jude’s complaints, “I’m playing for our team. Do you know about Quidditch?”

            “I have been informed,” Jude sighed at Draco’s arrogance.

            “Good. You have been alert. That’s a good progress. Remember, you’re a Slytherin, and you expect to be the best. Now, give me a good luck kiss.”

            “Eew! No way! I have a bone to pick with you for stealing a kiss on my cheek last Christmas! There is no way I’m gonna kiss you! I don’t even like you…”

            Draco cut her complaining short by kissing her again on the cheek before grinning and said, “I’m a Malfoy. I always get what I want.”

            Jude didn’t even have time to protest as Draco walked away quickly, swishing his robes as he went.

                                                                        *

            There was a huge crowd of people sitting and cheering in their audience seat, hollering their house names. Lee Jordan was the game commentary (as usual) with Prof. McGonagalle beside him. The game was between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors. As these two houses were traditionally worst enemies, Slytherin supporters and Gryffindor supporters can be seen jeering and booing at each other almost all the time.

            At somewhere inconspicuous, the trio sat together with Hermione and Ron. Jude had to pull her robes close to her neck so as not to expose her Slytherin vest. Ron sat between Jude and Becka, his heart secretly feeling like in paradise. Hermione was, obviously, jealous, but she was still quite embarrassed to show it. To make things worse for her, her archenemy Rach was also with them. Moments later, everyone was cheering when they saw the Slytherin and Gryffindor house players entering the field on their broomsticks. Jude shrank. She hoped that Draco would not see her among her friends, or she would get a total tongue-lashing from him. Of course, it was obvious that most of the people were cheering for Harry Potter. There was no doubt about it.

            Jude gasped silently when Prof. Snape appeared with a whistle around his neck. His long, black (but greasy) hair fluttered behind him by the gentle breeze of spring, and so did his new robes, the one she got him for Christmas. It was the first time she saw Prof. Snape on a broomstick, and he looked so…gallant. She sighed as he swept past the crowd and into the field. His robes swished as he swerved to reach the middle of the field. Jude sighed even more.

            With the blow of the whistle, the game started. The audience cheered and hollered their supports their chosen team. Ron cheered the loudest among the Gryffindors. Rach and Becka also cheered for Harry. Jude remained quite silent; she didn’t want Draco or her housemates to see her.

            In the midst of all the uproar, there was suddenly a loud protest coming from the Gryffindors. Obviously, Prof. Snape was hovering over Harry and was declaring a foul. Jude sighed and shook her head weakly. She knew that Prof. Snape was a demanding teacher and always went according to the books, but he didn’t have to go this far. She didn’t expect that Ron’s tale about Prof. Snape having a personal grudge on Harry was true. She was about to join in the protests when all of a sudden she felt something cold behind her back, like someone running a block of ice on her spine. She turned around to see who it was but everyone was protesting (except the Slytherins) so much that none of them seemed to be the one doing it.

            Almost as quick as lightning, she felt her whole body flung out of the audience seat. She flew headlong into the mid air and was soaring towards the field. Everyone gasped and shrieked when they saw her hit the ground like a cannon ball shot from miles away. Rach and Becka practically panicked as they pushed their way out of the audience to get down to the field. Ron and Hermione followed suite, with Ron freaking out and spluttering exclamations about Jude. Tony also shoved his way through the crowd to get to the field. The game stopped abruptly and all the players ascended to the grass below. Draco flung his broom aside and ran towards Jude faster than anyone else. Prof. Snape also walked swiftly to see her.

            “Oh, for the love of Merlin, what the heck just happened?!”

            “Is she dead?”

            “Did you just saw her fly out of her seat?”

            “Yeah, it was like she was being shot at or something!”

            “Air! Air! Give her some air!”

            Jude was unconscious and very pale. Her breathing was really shallow. Draco propped her head on his lap and growled at anyone who tried to come near, including her girlfriends. Prof. Snape came at last and checked her for a moment. He took her chin and turned her head side to side, scrutinizing her. Hagrid came by the last, his footsteps booming across the grass.

            “Hagrid, take her to Poppy,” Prof. Snape ordered. “She might have a heavy bump on the head. She doesn’t look to good.”

            “Right,” Hagrid said as he carried her in his arms. “Alright, aye! Ol’ Hagrid comin’ thru’ with an injured girl! Der ain’t nothin’ tuh see! She’s still livin’! Come on, outta da way.”

            This time Rach and Becka made up their mind to follow Hagrid to the Hospital Wing.

                                                                        *

            Madame Pomfrey immediately checked through Jude. She fed her with some liquids and bandaged her head and arm, which were bleeding a little. After letting Rach and Becka take a look at Jude, Madame Pomfrey shooed them all out, insisting that she needed rest. Her girlfriends left reluctantly. When Madame Pomfrey wasn’t looking, Tony sneaked into the Hospital Wing and sat beside her bed. Jude’s slow breathing told him that she was quite OK and that she was now asleep. Tony stroked her head as he observed her more: her eyes, her nose, her lips. Those lips. He wanted to claim those lovely, enticing lips as his own. He traced them with his fingers.

            He kissed her forehead instead.

* * *

_Jude found herself riding on a broomstick holding a bat. She recognized it as the Beater’s bat in the Quidditch game. She was in the field, together with her Slytherin teammates. She was facing Harry’s team and beside him was Becka._

_She had her fun beating the Bludgers whenever they’re incoming towards her team. None of the Bludgers escaped her eyes; she hit them with such accuracy that even Lee Jordan was raving about her non-stop. Jude never felt more exhilarated than this._

_Suddenly her surroundings become very silent. Everyone looked horrified. They stopped cheering and were staring at Jude as if she was a monster. Jude looked and saw her bat covered with blood, a few strands of hair and some mashed-up flesh. She shrieked and threw the bat away. She wasn’t on her broomstick anymore, but standing in the field staring at bloodied bodies all over the place._

_Without warning, she felt a sword going through her body. No, it wasn’t a sword. It was more like a frozen icicles the size of a stool. It went through her back and jutted out of her abdomen. Blood splattered at all directions, staining her robes. She choked, more blood gurgled out of her throat and mouth. She fell back and suddenly found herself falling down into an endless pit of darkness. She saw Prof. Snape above her as she fell, staring at her with those cold, tunnel-dark eyes. She held out her hand to him but he made no attempt to catch it. He just hovered there, watching her fall. Jude burst into tears and let out an ear-piercing scream:_

_“Prof. Snape, help me! Please, help me!! PROF. SNAPE~~!!!”_

* * *

            “Judith! Judith! Wake up! It’s me, Tony!”

            Jude opened her eyes. She found her cheeks drenched with salty tears. She saw Tony gazing at her with a pair of worried eyes. Madame Pomfrey was at her bed, gasping for breath. She was surprised to see Tony there but Jude was her main priority.

            “Everyone…Everyone died! I killed them! I was stabbed! It hurts so bad…Prof. Snape was there! He…he could’ve saved me! God, I’m falling!! Prof. Snape~!!”    

            “It’s OK, Judith, it’s OK! Nothing’s wrong with you. You’re not falling. Everyone’s still alive. It’s just a nightmare. You’re OK.”

            Jude stopped screaming. She was gasping for breath and crying like a wounded animal. Tony hugged her close to him, comforting her and stroking her back. He hushed her when her whimpers turned to wails. He had never seen Jude like this before. ‘What did she dream?’ he thought anxiously.

            “Oh, Severus! What are you doing here?”

            Tony turned when Madame Pomfrey exclaimed in surprise. There, at the door, stood Prof. Snape. The cold statue that constantly spite Jude and tortured her night after night in their secret practices. The emotionless teacher who gave her nothing but endless demands and cold remarks. Tony glared at him, hugging Jude protectively.

            Jude stared blankly at Prof. Snape. He stood there as cold as usual, his greasy hair as black as his robes. Those eyes, those tunnel-dark eyes. She couldn’t get enough of them. Almost quite suddenly, she broke herself free from Tony’s arms and rushed to the cold professor, burying her face into his dark robes and hugging him tight. She sobbed terribly and whispered over and over again, “Why didn’t you save me, Prof. Snape…? I called for you…I was falling…falling so fast…Why didn’t you save me…?”

            Severus Snape was at lost of words. He listened to the desperate whispers of his house student. He didn’t expect someone who woke up from a nightmare to react this way. He never felt so trusted like this before.

            He couldn’t explain it. The game was over. The Quidditch game resumed as planned and the Slytherin team has won the first match. He was about to get a drink when he felt this uncanny tugging feeling. An aura that stuck on him like a leech, begging him to go to the Hospital Wing. A vision of red blood flashed through his eyes and before he could think about what he saw, he found himself guided by his feet towards the Hospital Wing.

            Slowly, he took Jude’s shoulders and said, “It’s only a dream, Light. Stop crying. You’ll be the disgrace of the Slytherins if ever anyone caught you like this. Go on, back to bed. Stop crying.”

            He led Jude back to bed and laid her down, ordering her to sleep. After making sure she closed her eyes, he walked away swiftly, his robes swished as he went. He didn’t attempt to stay longer; he just left without a word. Madame Pomfrey told Tony to go and let Jude rest. Tony obliged, glaring darkly at the disappearing Prof. Snape as he left.

                                                                        *

            “That was so scary, I tell you,” Ron exclaimed. “I thought she was a goner!”

            Harry, Ron, Hermione, Becka and Rach were sitting together at the Gryffindor Quidditch team room discussing about Jude’s sudden accident. Harry wasn’t too upset about losing the game; he was more worried about Jude.

            “She really flew out of her seat into the field. I was so damn scared that she would break her neck and…” Becka didn’t want to say the unimaginable.

            “She’ll be alright,” Hermione said, half confidently. “She has the heart of a lion and a spirit of a warrior. She’ll pull through. I’m sure of it, I guess.”

            Rach got up slowly and fingered one of the flowers in a vase on the coach’s table. Suddenly the flower turned from its original yellow-orange colour slowly into blood-red, then to black. Minutes later, it burst into flames and wilted into ashes in her hand. Rach gasped silently and looked behind her to see if anyone noticed this. Luckily, they were too engrossed in discussing about Jude to pay attention to her.

            Rach seen scenes like these in scary movies on TV back in the Muggle world. It was a form of prediction. A sign.

            She turned skywards to see the clouds moving rapidly by the sudden strong wind as the sun began to set. She sighed uneasily and whispered, “What will become of us?” 


	8. Summer Holidays & Back Again

            Quidditch seasons have ended and the exams were on. The trio spent most of their time in the library studying for the coming exams, only that Jude was totally separated from them. Draco had him by his side and constantly trying to ‘mould’ her into perfection, but occasionally, Jude would sneak up to her girlfriends and sit between them to study. Jude hasn’t lost her blundering attitude yet, even after that scary incident in the Quidditch game. She accidentally went into the restricted section and opened one of the restricted books in the shelves. The book immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream and she received a sound scolding from the librarian Madam Pince and Draco.

            They’ve tried their best during the exams. There was a lot of writing and skill-performing. Jude was finally able to prepare a potion without any accidents. Becka actually succeeded in levitating a book without levitating the teacher. Rach, the genius, went through everything in just a synch.

            When the results were out, Jude and Becka survived. They passed all the tests, although not with the flying colours as they hoped for. Rach was the Top Student of Hogwarts, defeating Hermione by 5 marks in the overall subjects. Everyone was surprised at how the competition went between the two smartest students in Hogwarts. Her Ravenclaw housemates congratulated her elaborately. Hermione was filed with jealousy and anger but she shook Rach’s hand anyway, just to keep her cool.

            “Congratulations to you, Rachel,” Hermione said through gritted teeth.

            “Thanks,” Rach replied nonchalantly. “My condolences to you too.”

            Hermione would’ve laid a curse on her if Rach hadn’t sped off in a jiffy. Harry laughed at their antics. Meanwhile, Draco went up to Jude and said, “You didn’t do as well as I expected, Light. Not very encouraging.”

            “Mind your own business, Draco. I’ve tried my best. If it’s not good enough for you, that’s your problem,” Jude huffed, determined to ignore him just for once.

            “Don’t give me that tone, Light. You’re not doing well enough. Just because you had a sick spell last Quidditch season doesn’t mean you can take yourself easily forever.”

            “I don’t even care about what you’re trying to tell me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have another test to take.”

            “The exams are over. Why on earth would you want to take more tests?”

            “Why on earth should you care?” Jude gave him a sideways glance before walking away.

                                                                        *

            The trio sat together on the grassy field waiting for Prof. Snape, Prof. Lupin and Sirius Black to appear. Finally, after waiting for quite a while, they came, with Prof. Snape and Prof. Lupin in front and Sirius following at the back. The trio greeted them and Prof. Lupin and Sirius greeted back. Prof. Snape only nodded.

            “Ready for your final test, girls?” Prof. Lupin asked.

            “Just get it over with, sir,” Becka said impatiently.

            So the test began. First it was the flying, which Jude had finally mastered without becoming a human inferno, then it was the wand-less levitation, that Becka had barely passed, and finally it was the art of animagus, which the students of Hogwarts will ever get to learn only during their 7th year. Jude successfully turned into a black falcon; Becka, with much effort, turned into a sleek cat and Rach turned into a cute round hamster.

            “Very nice!” Prof. Lupin said as he picked Rach the hamster up into his palm. “I didn’t know you could turn into such a cute little fellow like this.”

            “Yeah, Rebecca,” Sirius said as he carried Becka the cat in his arms. “You may be my enemy species, but you turned out to be pretty likeable.”

            “It’s hard to believe that anyone would ever like you,” Prof. Snape said coldly as he let Jude the falcon fly up onto his arm, “when you are such a total freak of nature. Unless that person is a dunderhead just like you.”

            “Is that a challenge, Severus?” Sirius growled , his throat rumbled like a dog.

            “Temper, temper. I wouldn’t dream of wasting my spells on you.”

            “Stop it, men,” Prof. Lupin tried to stop them from starting World War III, “don’t fight in front of your students. OK, girls, you can turn back to your original selves now.”

            The trio got out of their hands and changed back to their full human bodies. They caught their breath for a while. It was obvious that if you’re not used to doing animagus, it might drain your strength away.

            “Good work, girls. You have passed your training test. You can do better, but now, this’ll do. Happy summer holidays. When you come back, there’ll be more practices to come.”

                                                                        *

            The trio found it hard to believe that they have returned to their old home in Sabah. For this term, Ravenclaw actually got first with 444 points, thanks to Rach, followed by Slytherin (305 points), Gryffindor (273 points) and finally Hufflepuff (158 points). It was totally different from the past house performance.

            At their return to their country, their parents still did not offer an explanation about their willingness to let them study in Hogwarts. They didn’t even try to explain how did they get their Christmas presents or where did they get it from, since they were living in a Muggle world. The only explanation they gave them was that “they just got it” and “they’re just happy with the way their children are, no matter what”.

            Homework was a bore, but the trio finished it eventually. One night, after Becka finished her essay on History of Magic, she spotted someone standing in front of her house gate. He was quite tall and sturdy, and under the moonlight, his hair was rich in dark brown colour. From the looks of his height, she guessed that he probably was a little bit older Harry.

            She saw him taking out a wand and waved it around the lock of the gates. It clicked open magically and opened up by itself. Becka gaped as the boy continued advancing towards Becka’s house. He then took out a broom from behind him and flew up to Becka’s window with it. Becka’s window was opened and the boy swooped into her room through it. Becka jumped and was about to scream for help when the boy whispered a spell, “Quietus.”

            Immediately, Becka couldn’t talk, not matter how she tried to yell her lungs out. The boy walked over to her and laid a finger on her lips. She could see that his eyes were a stunning pair of silver.

            “Be quiet, Rebecca. Promise me you won’t yell when I release you from the spell.”

            His voice was so stunningly mature and deep. She was so mesmerized by his handsome features that she was willing to do anything. She nodded. The boy chanted an anti-spell and Becka found her voice back again.

            “Who…Who are you?” Becka asked, her face beginning to blush.

            “It is not important,” the boy said as he set his broom against the wall. “I am here to bring you news.”

            “What news?”

            “You and your friends have been quite curious about your parents being very outgoing about sending you to Hogwarts, are you not?”

            “Yes! Yes! How did you know?” Becka asked, surprised.

            “I have my sources,” the boy replied briefly, and then said, “Do you want to know the reason why?”

            “Of course I do! I mean, normal people would freak out if they ever find their kids being sent to an abnormal school, not to mention an unearthly school like this! But no, not our parents! They were so calm and collected about all this…”

            “That’s because they are not your real parents.”

            “Wh…What?”

            “They are not of your blood relation. They are not your real parents. You three were never a Muggle-born. Not at all. You are genuine witches, not some Mudblood people always call you as.”

            “Wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute here!” Becka trieds to get it straight. “You’re telling me that all our lives, we’ve been living with Muggle families, whereas our real parents are actually genuine wizards and witches?”

            “Exactly,” the boy nodded.

            “Sorry to burst your bubble here, but I find this very hard to believe. Us living in a foster home all along and our true parents are out there somewhere? You gotta be kidding me!”

            “Suit yourself,” the boy said as he took his broom. “I’m just here to inform you about this. You can tell your friends about this if you wish to.”

            Becka grabbed the boy’s sleeve and said, “Why? Why telling me all this?”

            The boy stared at her with his silver eyes for a while, then said, “Because I care. And I thought this is the right thing to do. I don’t want to keep you in the dark, Rebecca.”

            “How do you know my name?”

            “I know all three of you and your friends’ names, Rebecca. Word spreads fast in the wizarding world. Goodbye.”

            Becka tugged his sleeve even more and asked, “Please, at least tell me your name!”

            After another momentary silence, he tugged his sleeve free, kissed her lightly on the forehead, and replied, “Cedric. Cedric Diggory.”

            So saying, he took off into the night on his broom, leaving Becka to her thoughts. Later, Becka realized that her cheeks were redder than the reddest tomato.

            Was this love at first sight?

                                                                        *

            The trio had never been so anxious to go back to school. In the Hogwarts Express, they were glad to see Tony and the Hawkins siblings again. And also Harry and his gang. Now that the trio was considered the senior status, they couldn’t wait to see what the juniors will portray in their new environment and how will they cope with the lessons. Jude was looking forward to see Prof. Snape again. The holidays were like eternity for her. It was Rach and Becka’s sentiments exactly.

            At upon reaching Hogwarts, the trio had their first ride on the carriage, which was driver-less like the boats. The trio felt like home again, right at Hogwarts. They’ve never felt so happy to be back to school again. For the first time, they’ve witnessed the normal sorting session in progress. Everyone cheered and thumped their tables when a junior was sorted into their houses, which made the sorting ceremony more interesting.

            It was a bad weather outside the Hogwarts castle. It was raining cats and dogs, followed by lightning and thunder. Ever since she stepped into Hogwarts, Rach felt uneasy. A bad aura had raged into Hogwarts like the wind and it seemed as if she was the only one who could feel it. It was so frighteningly strong that it almost suffocated her. The treacherous aura lingered from her to Jude to Becka and back again, very slowly, sliding in and out over her face and arms. She knew the invisible icy wind was a message, a message she has yet to understand.

            She had a bad feeling about this. She just knew it.

            After dinner, everyone retired to their respective dormitories. Rach was still feeling uneasy about the mysterious aura that came uninvited. She decided that she would tell her girlfriends about it. She found it hard to believe that she was the only one who could feel it. Even the Headmaster of Hogwarts who has better powers than her should be able to feel it, but there was no reaction on his face.

            As soon as she made the decision, something invisible, like a force, wrapped her up all of a sudden. It was suffocating her, tightening itself around her body mercilessly. It was filled with evil, hatred and killer instincts. The whole ordeal lasted for 10 seconds before she dropped to the ground. The girls in the dorms rushed to her aid, concerned and worried. One of them assumed that it must be one of the boys laying a Body-Bind curse on her just to tease her, but Rach knew it wasn’t a curse. It wasn’t as simple as that. She got up painfully.

            It was a warning.

            A very fierce warning.

                                                                        *

            “Say that again?”

            Becka, Angelica and Harry and the gang were in the common room. They weren’t sleepy yet, so they hung out at the common room to pass the time. Becka thought it would be better to break the news about her mysterious meeting with Cedric Diggory back home to Harry and the gang. After all, Harry was the Boy Who Lived and he should know someone like this. Obviously, she had caught them off-guard by that news, judging by their surprised faces.

            “Are you running a fever? Should I call Madame Pomfrey?” Ron said, feeling her forehead. Becka slapped it away.

            “I am not sick! This is real, guys! He actually came into my front gate, unlocked it with his wand, flew into my room with a broom and told me that Jude, Rach and I are not the real child of our parents! Could you believe that? He said I’m actually a true witch and not a Muggle-born!”

            “And what was his name again?” Harry asked.

            “Cedric Diggory, I guess.”

            Harry and the gang looked at each other with worried eyes. They were acting really weird. Becka was curious about the sudden change of their attitude.

            “Uh, Becka, are you sure he said his name was Cedric Diggory?” Ron asked, scratching his chin uneasily.

            “Duh! Of course I’m sure!” Becka replied. “He said it himself, with his own mouth! I’m not dreaming this and I’m not making this up! What’s wrong with you? I thought you guys are supposed to believe this kind of stuff.”

            “It’s just that…well, it’s quite impossible that he’s Cedric Diggory. I mean he could be someone posing as Cedric…” Hermione seemed as if she was hiding something.

            “Why? Why is it impossible? You tell me!” Becka was beginning to get annoyed at all this.

            “He’s dead, Becka,” Harry said sadly. “Cedric Diggory died last year. He was killed by the Avada Kedavra curse. I saw it with my own eyes.”

            “What?”

                                                                        *

            Jude hid behind Prof. Snape’s quarterly-opened office door as she stared at Prof. Snape himself. He was sitting at his table talking to Prof. Dumbledore. They looked so solemn, as if they were talking about the end of the world. She could only catch bits and pieces of their words as they talked in hushed voices.

            “The Dark Witch…destiny drawing near…”

            “…Would be a disaster if Voldemort finds out…”

            Voldemort? Who’s Voldemort? Jude strained her ears to listen.

            “The Black Witch…getting too strong…don’t think…can hang on…”

            “Watch out…the Cold Witch is important too…”

            The Dark Witch? Black Witch? Cold Witch? Who the hell are they talking about? She wanted to open the door a little to get a better hearing but she leaned too near the door. She fell headlong into Prof. Snape’s office and found herself staring at Prof. Dumbledore’s feet.

            “Light! What in the name of Merlin are you doing here? Eavesdropping on people, I presume,” Prof. Snape’s cold voice struck her head like a huge rock. How embarrassing to be caught like this. She’d rather drop dead.

            “Judith, aren’t you supposed to be in your dorm? You’re not supposed to be here,” Prof. Dumbledore’s kind voice didn’t exactly clear the situation.

            “Light, you know you are not allowed to roam around the castle in the dead of the night! That’ll be 5 points from you!”

            Jude didn’t want to protest or anything. The good thing about accidentally falling into Prof. Snape’s office was she could admire him up close. His hair, greasy as usual, attracted her. His skin was so wonderfully pale. His eyes, oh, how she loved those tunnel-dark eyes. Apart from his crooked nose, Jude had never felt so enticed by such suavity portrayed on someone as gallant as Prof. Snape.

            “Go back to your dorm now. Run along,” Prof. Dumbledore’s was indeed kinder, but surprisingly, she preferred Prof. Snape’s ice-cold voice than his. She walked away to her house dorm and smiled from ear to ear.

            Oh, it feels so good to be back.


	9. A Change of Tradition

            “My fellow students, we are going to have a bazaar.”

            The trio almost choked in their breakfast. Harry and his gang were surprised beyond words. The rest of the students looked at Prof. Dumbledore questioningly. The staff of Hogwarts stared at him as if he had just announced that they were going out to war.

            “Yes, my fellow students and members of the staff,” Prof. Dumbledore confirmed his announcement, “we are going to have a bazaar next weekend and I hope that all of you are able to participate.”

            “Begging your pardon, sir,” Prof. Flitwick voiced out, “but what exactly is a…bazaar?”

            Everyone nodded and asked him the same question. Prof. Dumbledore held out his hands to quiet them down before explaining, “A bazaar, as the Muggle-born and half witches and wizards know, is a small selling spree where you sell things to the public to raise funds for the school or certain organizations. For your information, our schools’ budget is running quite low and the Ministry’s hands are too tied up to bring their attentions to us. So what I propose is to have a bazaar, set up a few stalls and sell our things to the public so that our school budget will be more satisfactory. Hopefully, we’ll have enough to sustain the school of its equipments, especially the potions lab.”

            Jude lowered her head, quite embarrassed. To think that she had already burst a lot of cauldrons and messed up loads of potions, who knows how many potion ingredients she had wasted.

            “Now you can team up with anyone you like, whoever you like. And you can think up of something to sell. No two stalls can sell the same thing, so you kids have to be creative now. Make sure you have come up with a stall that is interesting and money-making. That’ll be all. You can start thinking about it after your breakfast.”

            Everyone began their hot discussion at once. The Great hall was quite noisy than usual. The trio was just excited about this whole thing. They gave eye-contact indicating that they were definitely going to get together and sell something out of the ordinary. Harry and Ron groaned, thinking about the great opportunity for the twins Fred and George Weasley to sell their prank products. Draco and Tony, of course, had their minds made up to do a stall together with their sweetheart Jude. Everyone had plans of their own.

            “Oh yes, our teachers, including yours truly, are also going to participate in this bazaar, so if there is anyone who wants to team up with your teachers, feel free to do so.”

            Now everyone was stunned. The staff really stared at Prof. Dumbledore as if he just asked them to jump from a cliff. Jude turned and eyed at Prof. Snape eagerly. How nice would it be to team up with him during the bazaar! Even if it means selling ridiculous potions, weird elixirs and what not, she would do it.

            Sadly, she had forgotten all about her pact with her friends.

                                                                        *

            “Light, come here please. You too, Malfoy and Parkinson.”

            Prof. Snape called Jude, Draco and Pansy to his desk after Potions class. Curious, the three of them walked towards his desk. Prof. Snape waited until everyone has left before getting to the point.

            “Do you know how to converse in Japanese?”

            Jude was surprised at his question. She didn’t know whether to just ask him why or roll over the floor and laugh like a mad woman.

            “Well, do you, or do you not?” Prof. Snape repeated his question, the icy tone brought her back to reality.

            “Uhh, yes, yes, of course, sir. Just enough, sir,” Jude tried hard not to scoff.

            “Good. And Draco, I understand you have a talent in handling money.”

            “Yes, sir. I can calculate almost anything by a glance.”

            “Alright, then it’s settled. We are going to do a Japanese food stand and I want you to assist me.”

            This time, Jude could not help herself anymore. She fell onto the floor and laughed until her sides ached, much to Draco and Pansy’s horror. Prof. Snape glared at her coldly.

            “And what is it that makes you so amused, Light?”

            “I-I’m s-sorry, sir,” Jude got back up her feet, trying to speak right after a huge fit of laughter, “it’s just that…HAHAHAHA~~ I cannot imagine you handling a – HAHA – Japanese stall…hehehehe…You don’t seem to fit the character…hehehe…HAHAHAHA~~!!”

            “You’d be surprise, Light,” Prof. Snape said as he collected his books, his eyes glaring venomously at Jude. “I’ll be informing you about the stall later this evening. Be punctual and do not let this news out, especially you, Light. And that’ll be 4 points from you.”

            “Sorry, sir. I’m really sorry,” Jude apologized, but still couldn’t get over her laughing. She waited until Prof. Snape was really out of earshot before rolling back on the floor again to laugh her lungs out. Pansy huffed and left the potions lab. Draco groaned and helped Jude up as soon as she stopped laughing.

            “You are a walking disaster, Light, you know that?” Draco grumbled as he helped Jude to gather her books and passed them to her. “You just cost us 4 points again, and you actually laughed in front of a very dangerous teacher.”

            “I sorta have a knack of getting myself into trouble,” Jude grinned as she wiped her laughing tears away.

            “Which is why I find it very attractive,” Draco said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

            “Now _this_ is not funny anymore,” Jude said as she tried to pry herself away from Draco, but Draco’s grip was stronger.

            “Just a little kiss, Light, come on.”

            “You know, Draco, I guess I’d better be going. It’s lunch time and I’m really hungry…”

            “It can wait now, can’t it, my little Dark Angel?”

            “Dark Angel? You make me sound like a vampire or something. Come on, let me go!”

            “No. Not until I get my kiss.”

            Jude groaned. Of all people, it had to be Draco who has an obvious crush on her. Why couldn’t it be Prof. Snape instead? She saw Draco’s lips going closer and closer to hers. Quickly, she shifted her face aside and let his lips touch her cheek. Well, better than being robbed of a virgin kiss now, isn’t it? Draco opened his eyes in surprise.

            “There, you kissed me. Can I go now?” Jude said as she grabbed her books and headed out of the potions lab, leaving Draco alone in the lab gathering his own books. Draco smirked as he watched her disappearing out of sight.

            “She is definitely mine.”

                                                                        *

            Hogwarts was unusually bright and cheery that weekend. There were stands upon stands selling all types of goods available. The twins Fred and George were, as expected, were selling dozens and dozens of prank products, which was quite a best-seller among kids. Harry, Ron and Hermione teamed up with Rach and Becka instead and sold Muggle products: from Becka’s handmade cookies and Rach’s fizzy drinks she owled her folks to send in to old unwanted toys and other gadgets. Too bad they were unable to sell electronic devices or their stall would be a better-seller than the twins.

            Perhaps the best-selling stand was Prof. Snape’s Japanese food stand. Jude and Pansy became his helpers while Draco became the cashier. Prof. Snape, surprisingly and funnily, was the chef himself. He surprised everyone with fast chopping techniques and the swift yet perfect way he served the dish. No one has ever eaten Japanese dishes before and they were curious to try it out. Many laughed when they saw Prof. Snape wearing an apron with a big, bold Chinese word ‘YU’ (fish) on it, but when he actually threw up a live fish fresh out of the aquarium, chopped it into pieces in the mid air and caught them in the dish arranged in perfect order, their laughter turned to admiration and couldn’t help letting out an ‘Ooh’ or an ‘Ahh’. There was once where he even chopped a few capsicums, threw the knife up high, turned around to fry something, then caught the knife in the mid air and continued chopping the capsicums. Jude, Pansy and Draco were surprised themselves, especially Jude who underestimated Prof. Snape’s ability. Her love for him had just increased to 105%.

            Besides being amused and entertained by Prof. Snape’s art of cooking, Jude and her housemates themselves have provided some ‘entertainment’. Whoever have received their ordered dish have to pay to Draco, and Draco was required to give him/her a cup of green tea. But Draco was so busy counting his money that he often forgot to give them their tea, and Jude and Pansy had to yell at him constantly to remind him to serve them tea. The customers couldn’t help laughing at them.

            Draco, the cashier, lived up to his promise. He could actually count the money within one glance and could tell if someone has paid him more or less. He could even give the customer the exact amount of change without much effort. That was another thing that surprised Jude. She came up to him and looked at how he went.

            “That’s very impressive, Draco. You really can count! You really live up to your rich family’s name.”

            “Malfoys are very calculative people. That’s what makes us interesting. Glad you liked my talent,” Draco said coolly and stole another kiss on Jude’s cheek. Needless to say, Ron and Tony (who was selling potions and elixirs) who saw them glared at him darkly.

            “Did you see that?” Ron said angrily, almost breaking a pencil in two. “The nerve of that Malfoy! Kissing her in public!”

            “I didn’t know that Jude and Draco are a couple,” Becka grinned slyly at Jude who was slapping Draco on the shoulder. “That naughty girl! She should’ve told us about it, or we wouldn’t be too upset about not having her in our stand.”

            “Her private life is none of our concern, Becka. Just let her be. You better watch out Ron before starts breaking our pencils, or we won’t have any business.”

            “I’m kind of curious about Prof. Snape,” Harry stroked his chin thoughtfully. “I mean, look at him go! I have no idea he could do that, and I definitely have no idea he could cook! Let’s go and check it out!”

            “I’m with you!” Ron immediately volunteered, followed by Rach and Becka. Hermione had no interest in going. Before Becka could go with her friends, outside the crowd, she saw her mystery prince, Cedric Diggory! She immediately abandoned her group of friends and rushed towards him. He took her hand and led her to a secluded corner.

            “Cedric! What are you doing here out of the crowd? You should be joining us! Come, let me take you to Harry Potter. I’ll show him that my encounter with you was real!” Becka was about to take him into the crowd but Cedric resisted.

            “No, Rebecca. I cannot go there.”

            “Why not? You’re missing all the fun out there!”

            Cedric looked down to the solid floor, not answering her.

            “What they said was true, wasn’t it? You’re already dead and you’re a ghost.”

            “I…I was dead. Well, sort of,” Cedric muttered uneasily.

            “What do you mean, sort of?”

            “I…Well, I was dead last year on some accident. Then…I was revived again.”

            Becka had her hands on her hips, “It wasn’t an accident. Harry told me about you. You were with Harry when an evil wizard appeared. That wizard killed you. He murdered you. I don’t call that an ‘accident’.”

            Cedric sighed and leaned on the wall, sliding down to a sitting position. Becka sat beside him.

            “Never mind about your past. I need some answers, Cedric. Why did you tell me that my friends and I are not living with our real families?”

            “Because this is true. Your parents are true wizards and witches of this world. They were born and bred here and they’ve studied in this school when they were teenagers. You are their true children.”

            “But if I’m, I mean, we are our true parents’ true children, why are we living in the Muggle world? Why are we not here just like everyone else in this world?”

            After a momentary silence, Cedric said, “It’s for your own safety, Rebecca. It would be perilous for you to stay here when the Dark Lord is at large.”

            “Dark Lord?” Becka looked at him questioningly for a while, then lit up and said glumly, “Oh the so-called ‘You-Know-Who’, huh?”

            “How do you know about him?” Cedric was surprised.

            “Everyone’s been talking about him!” Becka flung her hand dramatically. “You-Know-Who this, the Dark Lord that, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! I’m getting sick of this! They talk about this evil wizard but they don’t exactly tell me who the heck he really is! They won’t even tell me his real name!”

            “It’s not surprising. Judging by the way the Dark Lord’s damages to the world, it’s scary for them to even mention his real name.”

            “Who is this guy anyway? Surely you know of him.”

            “I’m sorry, I cannot mention his name yet. You’ll find out about it in time.”

            “Not you too! Humph!” Becka huffed and turned around, her back facing him and her arms folded across her chest. Without warning, Cedric took her in his arms and planted a long kiss on her forehead. Becka blushed slightly redder than her maroon hair.

            “You’re making this really hard on me, Rebecca. Please don’t be angry. I hope I could tell you about who the Dark Lord really is, but I’m not allowed to. Not yet, that is. Please bear with me.”

            Becka noticed a tattoo—or a burnt mark, to be exact—on Cedric’s left wrist. It was a shape of a skull with a slithering snake for a tongue and it seemed pretty menacing. It was like a real miniature skull on his wrist. Becka pointed at the mark and said, “Cool tattoo, Cedric. It’s quite impressive! So life-like, so…alive!”

            “Glad you liked it,” Cedric smiled as he hugged her closer to his chest. She didn’t notice the glow on Cedric’s silver eyes as he stroked her long maroon hair.

                                                                        *

            “20 Galleons for this dish?? You have just got to be joking!” Ron exclaimed out loud. He, Harry and Rach finally made it through the crowd and was reviewing the menu and its prices. Prof. Snape wasn’t at all offended—or so it seemed.

            “If you do not wish to pay that much, you can try something else,” Prof. Snape said as he cut up some lettuces for Jude and Parvati to mix in the okonomiyaki (Japanese omelette). Ron grumbled and scanned through the menu again for a more inexpensive dish.

            “I would like to try this dish,” a voice as cold as Prof. Snape called in the midst of the crowd of customers. There was an air of majesty and power in his voice that everyone made way for him immediately at the sight of him. Jude craned her neck to see who it was. He was a middle-aged man, but his face was flawless. He had long blonde hair that run past his shoulders, tied neatly with a black ribbon. He had the same gray unkind eyes like Draco Malfoy. He had the same black, sinister robes like Prof. Snape and Jude could see that he was quite a bad seed. In other words, he looked like the evil side of Legolas in LOTR.

            “Father!” Draco was surprised to see the man appearing in school. Jude was surprised too. She felt as if she was staring at Draco Malfoy 20 years later.

            “Lucius,” Prof. Snape nodded at him. Lucius nodded back.

            “I would like to know what makes this dish so…pricey. Amuse me, Severus.” The way he spoke made Jude cringe. It felt the same as the first time she met Draco. Like father, like son.

            Prof. Snape signaled Jude and Pansy to move all the tables and chairs away so that he could place the main table in the center. He then took out a large live lobster as big as a salmon out of the aquarium and put it on the table without getting himself wet or pinched. He then took out a huge mallet and, while the lobster was still alive and kicking, whacked the shell, cracking it like someone would crush a walnut. Everyone, including Jude, Pansy and Draco, winced as they heard the loud cracks of the shell. It felt as if _their_ bones were cracking and falling into pieces. Only Lucius remained calm and collected throughout the whole process.

            It was eerie to see that the lobster was still alive, clipping its pincers furiously although its shell has been cracked real badly. Swiftly, Prof. Snape grabbed the tail of the lobster and flung it in the air. He took out his chopping knife and chopped the lobster in the mid air. He held out the plate that was given to him by Pansy and caught the lobster. The lobster pieces fell chronologically in order and formed its original lobster shape. A few seconds later, the shell split open, revealing the fresh, juicy flesh inside. Everyone oohed and aahed at the spectacular performance. Prof. Snape decorated the dish and passed it to Jude and signaled her to take the payment.

            “20 Galleons, sir, for the performance,” Jude said timidly. “Please pay it to the cashier.”

            Lucius stared at Jude for a while before advancing to his son. He took out the bag of Galleons without any protest. Draco thanked him, gave him his green tea and, quite suddenly, pulled Jude towards his side.

            “Father, this is the girl I’ve been talking about,” Draco said as he wound his arm proudly around Jude’s.

            “I can see that,” Lucius replied as he stared at her again with his cold gray eyes. He leaned forward to Draco’s ear and said, “She looks unreasonably thin for her age.”

            “She is not thin, Father. Her figure in her country is considered perfect,” Draco whispered back. “I’m sure that she’ll be the perfect member of the Malfoy family.”

            “You better see to it that she does. Your mother has very high hopes for her to carry down the heir of the Malfoys, and she is a very important asset to us.”

            “Do not worry, Father. She’ll be you and Mother’s perfect daughter-in-law, and my perfect wife.”

            Lucius nodded and walked off to take a seat to enjoy his lobster. Jude took hold of Draco’s collar and hissed, “What did you just say to your dad? Is it about me?”

            “Sort of. But it’s not for you to know yet,” Draco smirked, his gray eyes flashing a sort of cunning look. Jude was about to ask him further when Prof. Snape’s cold voice cut her short.

            “Light! Malfoy! No talking during working hours! Come here, Light, and help Parkinson with the dishes!”

            Jude glared at Draco suspiciously before running towards Pansy and Prof. Snape to attend to the other customers.

                                                                       *

            The bazaar was officially over. Everyone gathered at the Great Hall with their earnings for the day. Prof. Snape’s group was, of course, the group that earned the most. The Slytherins cheered for Prof. Snape, much to the other houses’ disgust. Prof. Dumbledore stood up with a glee written across his face.

            “Thank you, thank you, one and all, for supporting this bazaar ceremony. I hope you had a lot of fun today. I know I did. I’m happy to announce that we have enough money to cover up all the expenses of the school. I assume that you haven’t eaten properly for the whole day now, have you not?”

            “NO~~!!” the students’ voice echoed throughout the whole Great Hall.

            “Then without further ado, let us all dine!”

           Everyone tucked in like hungry wolves. They seemed as if they haven’t eaten for days. After a few mouthfuls of food, Harry realized that someone was missing in their Gryffindor table.

            “Ron, Hermione, have you seen Becka?”

            “No. I thought she was with you,” Ron said, stuffing a pancake into his mouth.

            “No, she’s not. I haven’t seen her throughout the second-half session of our sale. Hermione, did she come back when we went off to see Prof. Snape’s stand?”

            “No, she didn’t. I didn’t even see the tip of her nose ever since she went with you guys to Prof. Snape’s stand,” Hermione replied, her eyes beginning to show a little concern.

            “That’s strange. It’s as if she had disappeared into thin air!” Harry stroked his chin thoughtfully as he popped a pumpkin cupcake into his mouth.

            “You don’t think that she’s…?” Ron was already starting to worry.

            “That’s impossible. Vol…I mean, You-Know-Who could never penetrate here. This castle is quite protected from his threats and attacks.”

            “Then where could she be?” Hermione asked.

            “I don’t know. I just don’t know…”

                                                                        *

            Becka woke up to find herself in her dorm. She sat up groggily, trying to remember how she got here. She recalled huddling in the arms of Cedric Diggory. Then she kissed him. She actually sacrificed her virgin kiss to him. Slowly she remembered falling asleep in his arms, until she found herself here.

            “Yikes! Have I been…?” Becka checked herself. Lucky for her, she didn’t feel any pain or soreness between her legs. She sighed in relief. She was willing to give away her virgin kiss but she wasn’t ready to give up her _virginity_ , that’s for sure.

            She didn’t realize that a mark was beginning to spread on her left wrist.


	10. The Confession

            Jude was pretty restless. So restless she wanted to explode. Everyday she saw Prof. Snape in front of her, lecturing and criticizing during lessons, and every night he was there, guiding her and teaching (although not so kindly) on her magic training in the field. He’s so near, yet so far. She really wants to just throw herself in his arms and tell him that she loved him, but she couldn’t. She just couldn’t.

            It wasn’t that she never tried. So many times she tried to confess to Prof. Snape about her love towards him, yet so many times she failed. It was hard for her because she didn’t want anyone to know her little secret. She tried writing a love letter but ended up throwing them into the fire because she sucked in writing them. She tried telling him in person but every time she tried to go near to him, her heart pumped so fast and so uncomfortably, she felt like as if she would either throw up or end up seeing her heart fall out of her chest and onto the floor with a noisy squelch. Besides Draco’s obsession for her was not easy to erase and avoid, and she was beginning to suspect that Tony also had a heart for her, judging by the way he treated her so nice.

            Finally she decided to consult Prof. Lupin. She stayed back after DADA class to talk to him.

            “Sir, can…can I talk to you?” Jude came to his table.

            “Sure, Judith. Go ahead.”

            Jude hesitated. She didn’t know where to start. She began to go red when she said, “Well…I don’t know how to say this but…well, it’s got something to do with someone I have a crush on.”

            “Ahh! Someone’s heart is blooming with roses. Who is the lucky guy, may I know?” Prof. Lupin grinned.

            “This might sound crazy, but…”

            “Hey, I’ve heard crazier things. What can be crazier than this?”

            “IhaveacrushonProf.Snape,” Jude blurted out all in one go.

            “Now that’s crazy.”

            Jude sulked. She was embarrassed. She felt stupid. She never should’ve said it. She gathered her books and made for the door.

            “Wait, Judith! What’s wrong? Don’t you want to talk about it?” Prof. Lupin was surprised at her sudden reaction.

            “It’s crazy. Forget that I said it. Forget that I asked.”

            “No, no, no. Come back. Sit down. I want to talk. What are teachers for, hmm?”

            Jude hesitantly took a stool and sat in front of Prof. Lupin’s table. She looked down on the floor, blushing worse than a tomato.

            “Now let me get this straight,” Prof. Lupin rubbed his chin. “You have a crush on Severus Snape, right?”

            Jude nodded.

            “Does he know about this?”

            Jude shook her head.

            “Does anyone else know about this?”

            Another head-shaking.

            “You have to know that Severus is a really impossible person. He almost has no feelings at all. Nobody, and I mean nobody, can even make him laugh or cry or show just a little bit of emotion. And you do know he’s 23 years apart from you, don’t you, Judith?”

            “I know all that, sir. And I don’t care. I know he has an unbreakable attitude, he’s old enough to be my father and I know he’s probably the most horrible teacher in Hogwarts. But I like him…a lot! So much that it hurts! I want to tell him about my feelings but…I can’t. I’m…I’m too embarrassed. Besides, Draco is constantly at my feet.”

            “Draco Malfoy? Why would you say that?”

            “Because he has a crush on me! And also I suspect Tony Brixius is also having a crush on me.”

            “You lucky girl! Why don’t you embrace either of them?” Prof. Lupin was quite surprised.

            “Duh! Because I don’t like them! I only like Tony as a friend, or more or less a brother, and I have absolutely no other feelings for Draco except contempt!” Jude lowered her head again, downcast. “I don’t know what else I can do…”

            Prof. Lupin smiled and stood up. He went over to Jude and patted her shoulder, “It’s always like that. Love’s never that simple, you know.”

            “I just want him to know how I feel! If he can’t accept me, fine! I’ll step back! I just want him to know my true feelings for him…”

            “Don’t give up, Judith. You just have to keep on trying. You’ll get your chance. Find a way to do it and everything will be fine. You just need to gather up more courage to do it, or else you will never succeed.” Prof. Lupin went back to his table to gather his books. “What’s your next class?”

            “Potions. Combined with the Ravenclaws.”

            “What luck! Run along now before you miss him.”

            Jude got off the stool and walked away, feeling much better. She enjoyed talking to Prof. Lupin. He’s a kind one. She topped at the door and turned around, asking, “Don’t you feel weird, like it’s wrong for a student to like a teacher?”

            “Of course not, Judith,” Prof. Lupin replied. “There is no right or wrong in love. It’s just the way it goes.”

            Jude left the classroom, satisfied. Prof. Lupin shook his head.

            “Children these days. Their minds mature so fast.”

                                                                        *

            Jude waited until the end of Potions class. She had made up her mind there and then to tell Prof. Snape about her feelings towards him. She wasn’t going to wait for the rest of her life anymore. It’s now or never.

            Finally, after quite a long wait, the class ended. She did her things unusually slow. She persuaded Draco and Tony to leave without her. She slowly picked up a rug and cleaned her desk of all the spilt potion she made. Until she made sure that she and Prof. Snape was alone, then she brought all her courage to come up to Prof. Snape.

            “Err…sir? I…uhh…I have something to ask you.”

            “Well, isn’t that a pleasant surprise? You normally do not ask questions, Light. You just blunder your way through class,” Prof. Snape’s tone wasn’t very helpful in gathering her courage though. Jude leaned a little towards Prof. Snape.

            “Say someone has a crush on you, or even a small liking for you, what would you do, sir?”

            “I would most definitely tell her that she is wasting her time because I’m not interested in commitments.”

            “What if that person is a student, and she is in your house?”

            “I would definitely tell her to concentrate more on her studies than this ridiculous emotion of hers. Such attitude is intolerable. Why do you ask, Light? Is there a certain teacher you have a crush on? Prof. Lupin, perhaps?”  

            “No, absolutely not!” Jude blushed like someone who just ate a bag of chili. “I have no particular liking for him!”

            “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to the Great Hall for some lunch.”

            Almost instinctively, Jude shot out her hand and grabbed Prof. Snape’s robe sleeve. Like an electric current, a series of scenes suddenly flashed through her eyes. She realized that she was looking at Prof. Snape’s past, from a small 6-year-old boy with shoulder-length hair bearing a mark of a skull with a snake for a tongue to a 12-year-old preteen studying in Hogwarts having silent feuds with a bunch of naughty-looking boys. He had that same cold look as the present Prof. Snape.

            Then another scene followed. She saw Prof. Snape running towards a playground which she recognized was the playground of her housing estate. She saw blood everywhere, covering the see-saw, the swings, the merry-go-round and even the flower bushes. She saw corpses on the ground, on the road, dangling on the swing poles, everywhere. Finally she saw Prof. Snape’s eyes. They were cold as usual, but there was a trace of emotion in them. She saw his thin lips, right there, just right there in front of her, waiting to be claimed. She didn’t care if any of these scenes she saw was real or not. She grabbed his collar and kissed…

            When she opened her eyes, she felt like kicking herself when she realized what she had done. She let go of Prof. Snape’s collar abruptly and looked down, feeling embarrassed and very guilty. She could see that the Potions Master was really very angry.

            There was a long silence between them. The silence was so thick, it was suffocating her. Jude decided to say it before she lost her chance, “Prof. Snape, I…have a crush on you. I was curious about you ever since I noticed you during the special sorting session and…I…uhh…I think I’m in love with you.”

            Prof. Snape remained silent, staring back at her coldly with his hand on his mouth.

            “I didn’t mean to…I won’t tell anyone…I promise I’ll…”

            “Get out, Light. Leave!” Prof. Snape hissed, pointing towards the door. Jude gathered her books and walked slowly towards the door. She could feel Prof. Snape’s eyes glaring at her with contempt and anger as she put one foot out of the door. She turned around and gazed at her beau hopefully.

            “I love you, sir.”

            “Out, NOW!!” Prof. Snape snarled, his hand holding dangerously on the wand, ready to strike.

            Jude left. She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. It felt wonderful to be able to get this feeling off her chest, and it felt fabulous to give her virgin kiss to someone she loved so much. Yet she felt blue because although one half of her expected Prof. Snape to react this way, the other half expected him to react otherwise. She wanted him to accept her, to take her in his arms, holding her close and never letting her go, or at least give her a stern lecture about ‘forbidden student-teacher relationships’, not like this. She felt sad for him too because she saw his forbidden past.

            She wasn’t too happy about this new found power either.

                                                                        *

            Everyone gasped at upon hearing the news Rach has revealed. She was suspicious about Jude who suddenly dilly-dallied after Potions class and hid somewhere secluded to see what was going on. She saw the whole thing.

            “You’re pulling our legs, right?” Darren said, horrified. “Please tell me it’s not real!”

            “I wished it wasn’t, but that’s exactly what I heard and saw. There’s no mistake about that, I tell you,” Rach said dourly, folding her arms across her chest.

            “She can’t like him! It’s like tampering with death!” Ron exclaimed, his heart broken into a million pieces. “And…And he’s already 36! Old enough to be her father! She can’t just like him like that!”

            “Oh, for Merlin’s sake! You people from the East sure are unpredictable!” Hermione groaned in exasperation.

            Tony, who was silent throughout the whole hot discussion, wasn’t too surprised about Rach’s news. He had a head-start about Jude’s liking towards Prof. Snape during last year’s Quidditch incident. He had finally made the decision. He didn’t care whether Draco was going to kill him for this or not. He has made up his mind to do it.  

                                                                        *

            It’s almost near training time. Jude put back the book she was reading into the shelves and was ready to leave for the field. She hoped that Prof. Snape hasn’t taken much offence to her sudden attitude. She was afraid he would expel her. As she went on her way, she heard someone calling her name. She turned around and saw Tony beckoning at her from one secluded corner of the library. She went to him.

            “Tony! I didn’t notice you! What are you doing here?”

            “Well…There’s something I have to tell you.”

            “Can’t you talk as we walk?”

            “No, it’s private. I have to tell it to you here.”

            Jude sighed. She’s not in the mood for games right now, but she decided to humour him. “Alright. Make it snappy. I have to leave for my nightly training. And you don’t want to be caught by that stupid cat Mrs. Norris.”

            Without warning, Tony seized her and pinned her to the wall. Jude gasped. This was the first time she’d seen him react like this. Tony has always been a timid, silent guy. She struggled to break free from his grasp.

            “Let go, Tony! What the hell are you doing?”

            “Forget about Prof. Snape! He’s not worth it!” Tony hissed, his eyes meeting Jude’s.

            “W…What are you talking about? What is this?” Jude blushed, shocked that her secret has been found. “What are you trying to say?”

            “I love you, Judith. I love you with all my heart. The first time I’ve set eyes on you, I have already fallen deeply in love with you! You are the most special person I’ve ever met.”

            “I knew it. I knew you had a thing for me. But I’m sorry, I cannot accept you,” Jude huffed, looking away. “You are more like a friend, a brother to me. Nothing more!”

            “That’s not it. It’s because of Prof. Snape, isn’t it?”

            Jude remained silent.

            “How could you like such a…a bore and a beast like him? He is nowhere handsome, he’s downright cold and emotionless and he doesn’t even have a care for the world! Why would you want someone like him?”

            “That’s none of your business,” Jude replied, still not looking at Tony.

            “He doesn’t even love you!”

            “I don’t care!!”

            “Well, I care! Judith, I don’t want you to be sad because of him. I want you to be happy, not in tears and in anger. I want to give you a blissful life. Can that cold-hearted Potions Master give you that? I don’t think so!”

            “Tony, stop it! I don’t want to talk about it anymore…”

            Before she could wrench herself free, Tony had leaned forward and claimed her lips. He stuck his deeply into her throat, tasting every corner of her mouth inside. Jude struggled to tear away from him but he refused to let go. He wanted to make her his. He wanted to make sure that she belonged to him forever. He slipped his hands into her robes and squeezed her breast, making her whimper in shock. But he still didn’t let her lips go.

            Suddenly Tony felt his whole body being dragged away by some force. He hit one of the book shelves and sent dozens of books raining on him. Jude gasped for breath; she was kissed for too long. She looked up and held her breath when she saw that it was Prof. Snape glaring coldly at Tony who was brushing the books off him hastily. When Tony noticed Prof. Snape’s presence, he half-shrunk away from him.

            “Brixius, this kind of behaviour is totally despicable and unacceptable by the school! You are a Slytherin!”

            “Sorry, sir,” Tony muttered through gritted teeth.

            “You lay another finger on Light and it’ll be the death of you!” Prof. Snape continued, advancing towards him. “Now go back to your dorm before I report you to the Headmaster, and no more monkey businesses like this! That’ll be 30 points from you. Leave, now!”

            Tony walked away unwillingly after putting all the books back into the shelf with the ‘Reparo’ spell. Jude got back on her feet and adjusted her robes (and bra) with he back turned towards Prof. Snape.

            “You’re late, Light. Everyone is waiting for you at the field,” Prof. Snape said coldly as usual, waiting for Jude to finish adjusting herself.

            “Sorry, sir. And thank you, sir, for helping me,” Jude replied, feeling relieved that Prof. Snape didn’t take offence to her sudden attitude.

            Prof. Snape nodded as he walked in front her to lead her to the field. Jude still had something to say.

            “I…err…well, I…about that incident, I…err…I apologize. I didn’t think…”

            “I’ve put it behind me. Don’t mention it anymore,” Prof. Snape replied briefly.

            “I don’t want to sound too straightforward or anything but…about my confession, you…?” Jude was hopeful. Prof. Snape turned towards her and folded his arms.

            “No. I cannot accept.”

            “Why?” Rejection was so hard to take.

            “Because you are a student and I’m a teacher, and that’s where we stand. Now, enough talk. Let’s move on. We’re already very much late.”

            Jude was even more downcast to hear that he would not give her a more comforting answer. She bit her lip. She remembered accidentally seeing into Prof. Snape’s past. She somehow felt sorry for him. Whoever gave him that mark on his hand must have deprived him of love and care. She could see that the mark was evil. She wanted to reach out and touch him, comfort him with her hug, but she realized where she was standing—a petite little student with no authority against a mighty, cold teacher. She wept silently as she trailed behind her house teacher.

            Suddenly she was again shot by an unseen force. She flew past the shocked Prof. Snape and banged onto a heavy door. When she tried to get up, she felt the familiar burning feeling inside her again. It was excruciating. It was worse than her last inferno attack. She felt the fire running down her veins, her arteries and engulfing her lungs, wrapping her heart tightly. She could feel herself going under cardiac arrest. She began to burn up again, her whole body catching fire. It was so terrible. She felt like she was going to die there and then.

            Prof. Snape running towards her was the last thing she saw.

                                                                        *

            Becka and Rach waited anxiously with Prof. Lupin and Sirius Black for Prof. Snape and Jude to appear. Sirius groaned and said, “Where the heck is Severus? It’s almost midnight already! I’m going to die of boredom!”

            “Patience is virtue, Sirius. He’ll be here any minute now,” Prof. Lupin said.

            Becka and Rach looked at each other in worry. What is happening back at the castle? They were afraid that Prof. Snape would do something horrible to Jude after the kissing incident. They were also riddled by the story she told them about Prof. Snape discussing with Prof. Dumbledore about the 3 mysterious witches: Dark, Cold and Black Witch.

            “Who do you think they are?” Rach asked. “I’ve tried checking the library about them, but none of them are mention in either book. Not even in the restricted area.”

            “I don’t know. I have no idea too,” Becka replied. “I tried discussing it with Hermione but she also said she had no idea who they were. Harry and Ron are of no hope either.”

            “Do you think these witches are some kind of evil characters or something? Their names sound really dark.”

            “Maybe they’re the daughters of someone very horrible. Maybe they belong to that You-Know-Who himself!”

            Rach suddenly felt an aura. It was hot, searing hot, like someone just being burnt alive. She got up immediately and yelled, “Jude! She’s in trouble! I felt it!”

            Everyone gasped and followed her as she ran back into the castle. She was right. She was there, curled up into a naked ball and Prof. Snape trying to beat the flames away, which didn’t seem to work. Instinctively, Rach and Becka pushed Prof. Snape aside and laid their bare hands onto Jude’s naked burning body.

            The next few changes surprised everyone present.


	11. The Truth

            Rach and Becka’s eyes began to glow at its own colour—Rach a cold blue and Becka a fiery red. They both laid their hands onto Jude’s burning body and chanted something gibberish. None of the teachers understood what they were chanting, but they knew it’s something to do with easing the fire. Both of them were in a daze. They weren’t aware of their surroundings. Their only intention was to save Jude before she gets burnt into a crisp.

            A blue aura from Rach’s hands and a red one from Becka’s streamed out and engulfed Jude, slowing down the fire bit by bit. Gradually the fire stopped, leaving Jude’s body red and scalding. Jude was unconscious, her breathing really slow. Rach and Becka fell out of their daze, catching their breaths. They were surprised themselves at what they just did.

            “Did I just do that?” Becka asked, looking at her hands. “I can’t believe this!”

            “What’s happening to us? We’re like suddenly turning into super witches or something!” Rach exclaimed.

            “Is she alright now?” The duo looked up, surprised to see that Prof. Dumbledore was also present all this while, including Prof. McGonagalle and Harry. Again, Prof. Snape took his robe and wrapped it around Jude’s naked red, hot body. Everyone was obviously shocked at what they have seen. Harry was practically stupefied.

            “What’s going on here?” Rach demanded, unable to keep this uneasy, tiresome question she had kept all the while ever since she stepped into Hogwarts for the first time. “What happened to Jude? What just happened to me and Becka? What is wrong with the three of us?!”

            “Calm down, Rachel. All will be explained. Let’s take your friend to the Hospital Wing first. She really needs a very serious treatment.” Prof. Dumbledore said kindly as he signaled Prof. Snape to carry Jude to the Hospital Wing.

                                                                        *

            “How is she doing, Poppy?” Prof. Dumbledore asked, concerned.

            “She’s doing fine for now. I’ve rubbed some extra cold cream on her. She’s much cooler now,” Madame Pomfrey replied.

           Rach and Becka elbowed their way among the grown-ups to take a look at Jude. She was right; Jude was doing fine. Her colour has restored and her body was glowing whitish-blue, like neon lights. Becka wanted to touch her but was slapped on the hand by Madame Pomfrey.

            “Don’t touch her! The cream is very cold. You don’t want to get your hand stuck on her skin!” Madame Pomfrey turned to Prof. Dumbledore and said, “She was really seriously burnt. I was surprised that her skin didn’t melt or something. I didn’t think she would survive.”

            “She’s a fighter, that Judith.” Prof. Dumbledore replied admiringly.

            “Sir, what’s wrong with her? Why is she constantly on fire?” Rach asked, her eyes showing much determination to know what was going on.

            “Yeah! What’s all this stuff about the Dark, Black and Cold Witch? Who is this You-Know-Who guy?” Becka demanded. “You said we are special, but as far as I’m concerned we’re no different than any other students in this school! What does all this have to do with us?”

            Rach could see that the teachers and the medi-witch were staring at them with such solemn eyes and feel the tense aura among them. Becka couldn’t care less.

            “I even heard that our Muggle parents are not our parents at all. We were never Muggle-born, weren’t we? I’m not going to stop asking you until I get some answers!”

            Finally Prof. Dumbledore sighed and said, “Since you girls have been having a head-start about things and so determined to know more, I might as well tell you. Sit down, girls.”

            Rach and Becka took a chair and sat down. They listened attentively to what the old Headmaster had to say, not wanting to miss even one word.

            “About these Witches, they go way back. Way back before they were born. It was the time when the You-Know-Who, or his real name Voldemort, ruled. You see, it was prophesied that these 3 special Witches are the key into guiding The Boy Who Lived to fight against Voldemort.”

            “So his name is actually Voldemort? Now that’s much easier to call him,” Becka said, satisfied to know the real name of the Dark Lord.

            “These Witches are essential,” Prof. Dumbledore continued. “They have to exist in order to entirely defeat and kill Voldemort. If you’re wondering who The Boy Who Lived is, here he is, Harry James Potter.”

            “You’re The Boy Who Lived?” Rach exclaimed, surprised. “I heard my parents saying that you’ve survived an evil wizard’s curse, but I didn’t expect that you actually were the victim of Voldemort!”

            “It’s a gift and a burden,” Harry replied sadly. “You don’t know how it feels to receive unnecessary fame.”

            “These Witches are the bearer of Harry’s heir. It was prophesied that the heir of The Boy Who Lived will be the ones who will wipe out Voldemort entirely from the face of the earth once and for all. These Witches are also known as The Ones.”

            “Wait a second,” Rach said, recalling something Hagrid said when they first came to Hogwarts. “You don’t mean to tell me that… _we_ are The Ones?”

            “That’s right, Rachel. You, Rebecca and Judith are the legendary Ones. You, Rachel, are the Cold Witch – the calm and collected One. You, Rebecca, are the Dark Witch – the courageous and witty One. And Judith is the Black Witch – the dark and mysterious One. She’s the strongest and most powerful among you girls, but she hasn’t learned to control that power yet, unfortunately.”

            Becka finally found her voice after being silent for so long, “We…We are the 3 Witches?! Shut up, man! That is so impossible! You mean _we_ have to have sex with Harry and bear his child?! That is so sick! I’m too young for this!”

            “Rebecca, watch your tongue! You are talking to a Headmaster here!” Prof. McGonagalle was annoyed at Becka for her use of language in front of Prof. Dumbledore.

            “It’s alright, Minerva,” Prof. Dumbledore raised his hand to calm Prof. McGonagalle down. “It’s a normal reaction. Rebecca, you are not going to have sexual intercourse with anyone. You will still keep your virginity. What I meant by carrying Harry’s heir is that you girls are going to carry them spiritually, not physically.”

            “Phew! Thank goodness!” Rach wiped off an imaginary sweat. “I wouldn’t want to imagine myself carrying a little brat in a huge bulging tummy and having to push it out like shit!”

            Prof. Dumbledore chuckled and said, “Yes, Rachel. Lucky for the three of you.”

            “But still,” Becka was still in doubt, “we’re going to carry a life form inside us here. Will it hurt or something?”

            “Don’t worry, Rebecca. You’ll find out more about it later in time. Just remember that your role in destroying Voldemort is crucial and important.”

            “Ooh! A mission! Interesting!” Rach shook with glee.

            “Sir, about our parents. Who are they?” Becka asked after another momentary silence.

            “Glad you asked,” Prof. Dumbledore beamed. “Well, girls, have you ever heard of the founders of this school?”

            “Yes, I’ve read about them in the History of Hogwarts,” Rach said, portraying her genius look. “There’s Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. What about them?”

            “You’ve been updating yourself, I see. Well, your parents are actually the heir of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Which means…”

            “My ancestor is actually Godric Gryffindor and Rach’s the great-great-great-great…descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw! Wow! Our lives have been circling around the Hogwarts castle all along! Cool!” Becka beamed, feeling proud of having such legendary parents.

            “Yes, you’re absolutely right.”

            “Then Jude is actually the descendant of Salazar Slytherin,” Rach said, looking at the sleeping Jude.

            “Well…it is a surprise that she is the descendant of Slytherin. We didn’t expect her to be that way,” Prof. Dumbledore scratched his bearded chin tentatively.

            “Why would you say that?” Becka was surprised.

            “Salazar has only one last heir, which is the Dark Lord. He was the last surviving heir of Salazar. There was no one else. It was confirmed even by the Ministry,” Prof. Snape said in his usual cold tone.

            “But then this has to mean that…” Rach was hesitant to say it.

            “Yes, unfortunately. Your friend, Judith Cecelia Light, is the daughter of Voldemort. She is the evil seed of the Dark Lord,” Prof. Dumbledore sighed in despair.

            Her friends stared at Jude in trepidation. That’s impossible! Their dearest sweet friend, who wouldn’t hurt even a fly and was mostly the happy-go-lucky girl, was the daughter of a mass murderer wizard? They found it really hard to believe.

            “But…But she’s so nice and kind and all that! Look at her! She’s so peaceful! She can’t be Voldemort’s daughter! That would be bull!” Becka feared for her best friend.

            “Her evil was proven,” Prof. Snape said precisely. “When she was a child of 3, she murdered an entire Muggle playground of its people just because a child refused to share the swing with her. I got there almost too late. The whole place was filled with bodies barely recognizable. I had to take away from the scene and block her memory, and I made her foster parent swear to secrecy.”

            “That was her?! I’ve read some old newspaper when I was in primary school about a massacre. She did all that?!” Rach exclaimed in horror.

            “There is also another incident in your Muggle school. There was this girl who made her so angry…” Prof. Snape couldn’t recall the girl’s name.

            “Hannah! Hannah Tan! She betrayed Jude by taking away her crush,” Becka remembered the bitter story Jude told her. “But that girl has already moved to Kuala Lumpur for further studies!”

            “That’s what she thought. The truth is…she has killed the girl. Murdered her with her own powers. Mutilated her beyond recognition. I had to block her memory again and the Ministry had to alter all the witnesses’ memories in order to keep her from being caught. Her actions are enough to send her to Azkaban.”

            Rach and Becka gazed sadly at their friend. Not only she had to bear with the strong powers inside her, she also had to battle the demon within her. It was scary enough to know that she was descended from an evil seed, now she had to fight that evil seed which was dying to get out. They felt ultimately sorry for her.

            “Voldemort is looking for her to continue his evil legacy and he is also bent on destroying the two of you,” Prof. McGonagalle said. “That is why we had to put you three in a Muggle world and live with Muggle parents.”

            “Just like me,” Harry said, “only that _my_ Muggle family didn’t turn out to be the greatest.”

            “Come along now and let your friend rest. We can talk about the rest when she’s well enough,” Prof. Dumbledore said as he got off his chair and walked out of the Hospital Wing. The rest followed suite. Prof. Snape stayed behind for a while. He waited until all of them disappeared out of sight before advancing towards Jude’s still body. He held out his hand and, carefully, moved away the fringe that was covering her closed eyes. He stared at her for a while before leaving the ward as well.

            A few seconds later, Jude opened her eyes. She wasn’t unconscious at all. She had long since awakened and had heard every word Prof. Dumbledore said.

            She just didn’t want to face Prof. Snape.


	12. Halloween Night

            October. Autumn night. Hogwarts Castle was raining with red, orange, yellow and brown leaves coming from the Forbidden Forest. The trio had their fun in the evening running around the field, yelling and cheering as they tried to collect every different coloured leaves and stomp and crunch the brown leaves on the green grass. They were probably the only ones who were the autumn maniacs there because they had to be dragged away by their respective house teachers.

            Jude has taken the news of her being the daughter of the world’s greatest, most evil wizard of all time. It was as if she had embraced this destiny of hers as easy as drinking water. It was surprising to most of her girlfriends, but nevertheless, they were happy that she wasn’t as moody as they expect her to be, especially after that incident with Prof. Snape.

            “Training’s been pretty intense,” Becka complained as she stretched herself out of her tired bones. “I hope that it doesn’t destroy my mood for the incoming Halloween party.”

            “Halloween party? When?” Rach was surprised that time had passed so fast. She checked her pocket calendar to check the date.

            “1st October, somewhere next week. I hope a nice guy would ask us for a dance, he he he!”

            “I doubt it,” Jude said in a pretend-serious tone.

            “Teachers are allowed to dance with students,” Becka tried to hint Jude that she might have hope with Prof. Snape.

            “Yes, definitely! I mean he saved you a number of times, including the last inferno incident. There’s no reason why he won’t dance with you. Indirectly, I think he digs you!” Rach also joined in the hinting.

            “Impossible. He doesn’t dance,” Jude replied doubtfully.

            “How would you know?”

            “Just look at his attitude.”

            “I’m sure it’s just a phase or somewhat. He will dance with you! I’m sure of it!”

            Jude didn’t reply. She didn’t want to argue and she didn’t have any intention to ask or hope for a dance with Prof. Snape. She wanted to just stay away and avoid him as much as possible.

            Somehow, she began to consider Tony Brixius.

                                                                        *

            “BOO!”

            “Hi, Ron.”

            Ron looked annoyed as he put away the jack-o-lantern he held up to his face to scare Jude. He thought he was scary. Looks like Jude had proved him wrong.

            “Hey, Jude! Why the glum look? You’re supposed to be happy! It’s Halloween Party Night tonight!” Ron tried to cheer Jude up. She was sitting at the table drinking juice. The food wasn’t really appetizing to her; she only ate a tiny portion of everything. Once a while, she glanced at Prof. Snape sitting at one corner, silently listening to other teachers chattering merrily with each other. She sighed.

            “I’m not in the mood right now, Ron. Training gives me the lags,” Jude made up a silly excuse, Ron wasn’t buying it.

            “Come on! Forget about training! It’s the day all witches and wizards have been waiting for! It’s time to dance! Let’s go!” Ron said enthusiastically. Jude groaned at Ron’s stubborn persistence.

            “Yeah, come on, Jude,” Harry agreed, patting her shoulder. “Don’t be so tragic! Look at Rach. She’s having a good time. Come on, let’s dance!”

            “I don’t know…” Jude hesitated but Ron dragged her up.

            “Come on, Jude! Don’t be such a party-pooper! Go and dance with Harry! You’re gonna have fun, trust me!”

            “Yeah, right,” Jude muttered as she forced herself to go with Harry into the middle of the Great Hal to dance. She saw Rach constantly changing partners with her male housemates and had a great time with each and every one of them. She couldn’t find Becka though. She groaned silently when Draco cut in to dance with her. She did consider wanting to give either Draco or Tony a chance, but she found herself that she was too late to wrench herself away from her cold, silent beau anymore. She was too deeply in love with him to do so. Besides, Tony tried to rape her. There is no way she was going to let Tony have her! Not for the Galleons in the world!

                                                                        *

            Becka strayed out of the Great Hall and out into the open fields that separates the castle and the Forbidden Forest. She didn’t exactly enjoy the party, although she had a couple of dances with Harry, Ron and Darren. She took a stroll around the vast field, inhaling the sweet autumn air. She was about to turn back to the castle after reaching the border line of the Forbidden Forest when she saw a boy with dark-brown hair and a pair of silver eyes. She recognized him immediately.

            “Cedric! Oh, Cedric, I missed you so much!”

            “Me too, Rebecca. I missed you too,” Cedric smiled as he held her in his arms. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

            “It’s been a _long_ while! Where have you been?” Becka was really thrilled to see her dream prince.

            “Around,” Cedric replied briefly. “I heard that Dumbledore had told you everything.”

            “Yes, including our real parents. I was so surprised that my parents were actually the descendant of Gryffindor! Unfortunately, Jude is…”

            “Voldemort’s daughter. That’s inevitable. I hope she is taking this news well.”

            “Oh, yes, very. It’s as if she just heard a fairy tale or something. She had no complaints, not even once.”

            Cedric looked at the direction of the castle and said, “You know, from here, we can still hear the music. Would you like to dance, my little Dark Witch?”

            “It’ll be my pleasure,” Becka giggled as she curtsied at Cedric. He took her hand and started dancing according to the music. Yet secretly, he stole a look at Becka’s left wrist.

            The burnt mark was getting more visible.

                                                                        *

            The music changed. It was the last dance of the Halloween Party Night, and the Hogwarts staff was in a mood to dance. Some unlucky students were dragged into the middle of the hall to dance with the teachers. One was even unlucky to have Prof. Dumbledore as a dance partner. Those who were lucky to escape hollered and laughed at those unlucky ones.

            Jude sighed. She sat back at her corner trying to finish her juice. She saw Prof. Snape coming back into the hall from somewhere. Judging by the wand in his hand, Jude could tell that Prof. Snape had went to what Harry would call ‘one of his love hunts’, hunting down sneaking lovers behind the bushes and burnt it, catching them red-handed, before deducting their points.

            Jude continued musing about her misfortune. She felt as if she had no spirit to live up for the whole party thing. She couldn’t enjoy herself, not when she had Prof. Snape’s rejection still fresh in her mind and the incoming mission she was going to perform for Harry. She may be cool about being Voldemort’s daughter but she wasn’t cool about other things.

            Jude was about to leave when she heard a cold voice behind her, “Leaving so soon, Light?”

            She spun round. It was the ever ice-cold, expressionless statue, Prof. Snape.

            “S-S-Sir! What are you doing here?” Jude practically stammered at upon seeing him. She regained composure and said, “Why are you here? I don’t recall you coming here!”

            “What did I teach you about always being on your guard?” Prof. Snape replied. After a momentary silence, he spoke again, “Still keen to dance, Light?”

            “Nope. I’m neither interested nor in a mood,” Jude replied gloomily.

            “Why not? You have a dancing partner who is speaking to you right now.”

            “You? You?!” Jude was startled. “You want me to dance with you?!”

            “Don’t you like it? Well, I’m not inclined to make your life easier now, am I?” Prof. Snape asked silkily.

            Before Jude could react, Prof. Snape grabbed her elbow and half-dragged her into the dancing crowd. Everyone (except Prof. Dumbledore) was shocked.

            “Prof. Snape’s dancing with her?”

            “Oh Merlin, have mercy on her!”

            “She’s in for it!”

            “This is suicidal! I can’t watch!”

            “She has to be crazy to dance with the Potions Master!”

            Everyone commented on the unlikely couple, but none of them spoilt the party fun. Jude never felt so awkward yet blissful: his hands on her and her hands on his. She was surprised to learn that he danced pretty graceful for a cold statue like him. She wished that this moment would never end.

            Rach snapped her fingers and said, “See? My intuition is always right!”


	13. Children of the Future

            “You haven’t finish reading that comic series yet?”

            Rach complained at how slow Jude read her comics that her cousin helped her buy in the Muggle world. Rach had already finished reading her novels she brought from home. Becka became a busybody as she flipped through the comics.

            Becka was feeling much better now. She had a great time with Cedric and was thrilled to see that she began to have the same tattoo mark like Cedric. Now she felt as if they were beginning to be more like one. Of course she didn’t say that to her girlfriends. She didn’t want them to worry about dating someone who just came back from the dead.

            “Come on, Rach. You have to enjoy the art and explore their dialogues when you read a comic, not go rushy-rushy over it,” Jude remarked, not looking up from her comic. “Besides, reading it slowly lessens the possibility of money wastage.”

            Rach grunted in reply.

            Quite suddenly, Prof. Dumbledore popped out of nowhere and asked, “That is a very interesting Muggle book you’ve got there, Judith. I hope you don’t intend to read it during classes.”

            The trio jumped at the sight of him. Becka was the one to exclaim first, “Sir! You startled us! We almost had a heart attack!”

            “Beg your pardon, girls,” Prof. Dumbledore chuckled. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Have you had your dinner, girls?”

            “Is it dinner time now?” Rach asked. “I don’t see anyone moving to the Great Hall.”

            “It’s not dinner time for them, but it is dinner time for you and Harry. Go on, run along now. Harry is waiting for you girls there. Go now.”

            The trio wanted to ask why such an early dinner time but finally decided to follow his instructions. They quickly walked towards the Great Hall. The old Headmaster was right—Harry was there, enjoying his dinner. The portion of food on the table was enough for him and the trio. But he wasn’t there alone. Prof. Snape, Prof. McGonagalle, Prof. Lupin and Prof. Dumbledore were also there. How did the old Headmaster get there before them, the trio didn’t know.

            “Glad you could join us, girls. Go on, sit down beside Harry and have your dinner. You have all the time we need.”

            The trio went towards Harry and settled down. Though still curious about the whole thing, the trio soon tucked in with him. They looked at Harry who was eating a big piece of fish. He seemed more solemn and…well, a little handsome this time. They were surprised to see him at this state. Without them realizing it, the trio was quite attracted to his sudden change of attitude. Never before have had they felt like this simultaneously towards a guy who they used to know as a friend. Harry realized that they were staring at him.

            “What? Is there something wrong with my face? Why are you girls staring at me like that?”

            The trio got back to their senses and said almost in unison, “No, no, no! Nothing’s wrong, really!”

            Prof. Dumbledore looked at his staff thoughtfully. They nodded, understanding what was going on.

            “What exactly are we doing here? We never have dinner early,” Jude asked.

            “Yeah! We always have our dinner together with our housemates. Why is it different today?” Becka asked too.

            “Because tonight is the night,” Harry replied briefly, his voice a little lower so that the teachers won’t hear.

            “What night?” Rach asked.

            “The night…” Harry hesitated before saying, “the night where we are going to become one. To create our…heir.”

            “What?!” Jude hissed, being careful not to alert the teachers. “It’s tonight?? I didn’t know that!!”

            “Hasn’t Snape informed you about this?” Harry asked. “Not even McGonagalle? Lupin?”

            The trio shook their heads hard, ultimately sure that they weren’t informed about it.

            “Well, I was informed by Dumbledore about it. I guess he forgot to tell your teachers to tell you.”

            “Or he deliberately didn’t tell them about it!” Becka hissed, frustrated. “That old geezer!”

            “Unfortunately, there’s no running away from it anymore. After dinner, they’ll take us somewhere secret to perform the heir-ceremony.”

            “The heir-ceremony? What in world is that?” Rach wrinkled her nose.

            “You’ll soon know. Hurry up and eat as much as you can. It’s gonna be a long night.”

            They continued to eat in silence. Finally, when all of them had their fill, Prof. Dumbledore stood up and said, “Have you eaten your fill yet, girls, Harry?”

            The trio and Harry nodded in unison. The food disappeared from the golden plates. Prof. Dumbledore gestured them to come with him. They obeyed. They followed behind the teachers along a long hallway where there were more spooky pictures that greeted them and shifted their gaze towards them. Although this was normal in the magical world, Jude still found it really creepy. The hallway was lit with only candles on candle stands, which made the place even creepier. The trio did not remember coming to this part of the castle, but then again, this was a castle. There’s bound to be more secret passageways and unexplored places than the ones during their school hours.

            They went up a flight of stairs that went really, really, REALLY high up. The trio and Harry practically went almost out of breath and had to stop for a rest once in a while. The trio tried to cheat by flying their way up but stopped by Prof. Snape or Prof. McGonagalle’s stern warning. Finally when they reached the top, they have counted 66 steps altogether.

            Again, they went through another long hallway where the paintings were more grotesque than ever. There were paintings of gargoyles, demons, fallen angels and loads of other creepy paintings you definitely do not want to have in your living room. What was even creepier was that the paintings are actually alive, and the Hogwarts ghosts like Nearly Headless Nick and Bloody Baron were hovering around the hallway, their moans and groans echoing throughout the whole hallway. The trio and Harry grabbed a grown-up to hang on to: Harry grabbed Prof. Dumbledore, Becka grabbed Prof. Lupin, Rach grabbed Prof. McGonagalle and Jude, of course, grabbed Prof. Snape.

            “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Prof. Dumbledore chuckled. “It is a little creepy, but they are quite harmless.”

            Harry, Rach and Becka eased their grip on the teachers they held, but Jude was another thing. No matter how Prof. Snape pulled or told her to let go, she still hung on tight. She just couldn’t get over the eeriness of the hallway.

            Finally, they reached a corridor of rooms. Prof. Dumbledore took them to the last room and unlocked the door. The door creaked as it opened, and it was completely dark. They could scarcely see anything. The teachers lit their wands with the ‘Lumos’ spell and they could see a little clearer. It was a small bedroom which looked like it used to belong to a princess. Although everything was age-old and ancient, it was really clean, as if someone has been cleaning this place regularly. There was a canopy bed and loads of toys a princess should have and a whole lot of other things. The trio oohed at the sight of it all.

            “We had Argus Filch to clean this up for us,” Prof. Dumbledore said with a proud tone in his voice. “Now, let’s gather in a line. Harry, you and the girls stand in a line and we’ll stand in another line in front of you.”

            They did as they were told. Harry stood in front, followed by the trio. Rach had this uncanny ability to feel someone’s aura and right now, she felt an extra aura among the teachers but she just couldn’t make out whom; it was still too dark. The teachers stood in their line and the heir-ceremony started. Each teacher came one by one to give their blessings by laying their hand onto Harry’s head and chanted some sort of blessing spell. The whole process repeated on Jude, then Becka and finally Rach. All of them felt a cold rush from their head down to their spine as each teacher finished chanting their blessings.

            After all said and done, Prof. Dumbledore gave Harry a lit candle and said, “Take your time, children. Send me a messenger when you’re done.”

            Messenger? The trio was about to ask who was the messenger but the teachers have already left. For a few moments they stood there looking at each other questioningly until, suddenly, a dog popped out from below the canopy bed. The trio almost shrieked in shock but Harry hushed them.

            “Sirius! It’s my godfather Sirius!” Harry exclaimed happily. The dog let out a sort of grin and changed into the wild, handsome Sirius Black. The trio was astounded.

            “Sorry, I was late. Dumbledore told me to keep out of sight until they finally leave. I’m here to give my blessings too.”

            “I thought I felt an aura!” Rach snapped her fingers.

            “Very clever,” Sirius grinned. Now, for my blessings.”

            So, one by one, they were being blessed again by Sirius Black. After he was done, he said, “I’ll be outside the door when you’re done. I’m Dumbledore’s messenger.”              

            So saying, he changed back into a dog and went out of the room. Now the only people in the dark room were Harry and the trio. They looked at each other awkwardly. Never before have they had any close body contact and they surely felt uneasy to actually touching each other’s bare body.

            “Right, let’s get started,” Jude let out a sigh of defeat and sat on the canopy bed. “I don’t want to stay in this dark room. I’m quite phobic of the dark, as you can see.”

            “Yeah, let’s get this over and done with,” Rach said as she joined Jude onto the bed. “I don’t want to spend another minute here. It’s kinda creepy.”

            “Alright, if you say so,” Harry said as he, too, joined them onto the bed. Becka climbed up last. With the candle in between him and the trio, Harry tried to explain, “OK, Dumbledore has briefed me on this, so I want you girls to understand this. Number 1: you don’t have to remove your clothes. You don’t have to go naked all over. Remember, we’re NOT going to have sex. Number 2: be calm at all times. One false move and the child will be gone forever. And lastly, number 3: we’re still going to be friends, OK?”

            The trio looked at each other. Rule number 1 and 2 are easy to obey, but to accept rule number 3 (which didn’t seem much of a rule at all) wouldn’t be that easy. Hell, you can’t have a baby with someone and pretend that you and the father are just friends. But what else could they do? They don’t have much of a feeling for Harry, except a normal friend type of feeling. Now a normal friend is going to have a child with them. That really is a very tough decision.

            “We’ll try,” the trio finally replied in unison.

            “Good,” Harry smiled weakly. “Right, we’ll start the process then. Who wants to go first?”

            Again, the trio did their famous ‘pointing at each other’ antic. Harry chuckled. He found it hard to believe that these three childhood friends could be comical at a tense hour like this. Slowly, the trio followed in his laughter. The tense atmosphere was much more relaxed now.

            “We can never decide, Harry,” Becka said after laughing herself silly. “You call the shots.”

            “OK then. Jude, you go first. You’re the eldest among the three, and it’s logical that the eldest always go first.”

            Jude moved herself closer to Harry, being careful not to make the candle fall. Harry ensured Jude that he won’t do anything harmless and told her to take off her robes. After she did it, he unbuttoned the shirt she was wearing and lowered it until halfway down her shoulders, revealing her bare half of her chest. Jude shivered a little out of nervousness but Harry whispered comfortingly, easing her tension.

            “It’s alright, I won’t hurt you. This is how it goes. Don’t make any false. It’s alright.”

            Slowly he laid his right onto her chest and his left hand on his abdomen. He closed his eyes and started chanting a few spells. Jude widened her eyes when she saw a glow on his left hand. The trio also saw it and gasped. The glow traveled from his hand to his arm to his elbow to his right hand and finally into Jude’s body. Jude gasped slightly as she felt the rush inside her. The small glow of light traveled down into her own abdomen. It felt really warm inside, but Jude didn’t dare to move an inch. She didn’t want to be a child murderess. Harry gradually opened his eyes and said, “You’re done. Do you feel painful or uneasy anywhere?”

            Jude shook her head and smiled. Harry nodded and called Becka to come to him. The same process repeated. Rach was the last to go. Three of them felt the same fascinating rush as they touched their abdomen, feeling the child’s aura in them.

            “You still cannot move too much, girls,” Harry said as he collected himself. The whole process tired him more than it tired the trio. “Lie down for a moment. You’ll be in for a surprise.”

            The trio did as he was told without question. As they lied down, they discussed with each other about the sudden feeling they felt when the glow went into their body.

            “That was really cool! I didn’t know conceiving kids spiritually could be so fascinating!”

            “Yeah. That rush I felt was really…tantalizing!”

            “We don’t get this everyday. I think I might like carrying this little brat around in me.”

            Their discussion stopped abruptly when their abdomen glowed once more, this time much brighter than before. The trio gasped as they felt the rush flowing down through their whole body—from the tip of their heads to the tip of their toes. It lasted for a few minutes or so. Although it didn’t hurt them or anything, the trio found that they had to adjust their emotions to the sudden shock they got from this incident. When the glow slowly dimmed, Rach was the first to ask questions.

            “What just happened? Why did we suddenly turn into human torch lights?”

            “My aura is combining together with your aura. They’re forming themselves into a life form,” Harry said, quite surprised himself.

            “So…we’re…pregnant?” Becka asked hesitantly.

            “Spiritually, yes. So, are you fit to move?”

            “Yeah, I guess so,” Jude said as she slowly sat up. Harry nodded and went to the door and told Sirius the dog that they were done. The dog quickly raced off to the other end of the corridor and scraped the door, whining. Prof. Dumbledore came out almost immediately and stroked his head. All the teachers came out of the room. Prof. Snape came out the last, glaring venomously at the dog. Obviously he could see through Sirius’s animagus. Sirius growled back.

            Prof. Dumbledore knocked on the door of the room Harry and the trio was in and came in at Harry’s call. The trio put on their robes, blushing a little at the sight of all the grown-ups. Prof. Dumbledore looked at the trio and asked, “Did everything go well?”

            “Yes, sir. Everything was going as we expected,” Harry replied. The trio nodded, confirming his answer. The teachers came over and checked by laying their hands on their abdomens. Jude practically blushed when she felt Prof. Snape’s hand on her. All the teachers nodded.

            “Good. Very good. Let’s go back down to the main part of the castle and take these girls to bed now, shall we?” Prof. Dumbledore beamed from head to toe.

            So, again, they went down the corridor, along the spooky hallway, down the 66 steps, along the less scary hallway and finally back to their familiar Great Hall. The trio bid each other goodnight and went on their separate ways. Harry took Becka’s arm and walked with her back to the Gryffindor dorm, as if he was afraid that Becka would stumble and fall or something. Rach went back to her Ravenclaw dorm and was immediately showered with questions of her whereabouts by her anxious housemates, including Darren. Whether they were really worried about her or they were just worried that they’ll lose Ravenclaw’s only hope, Rach didn’t want to know.

            Jude didn’t get the great red carpet treatment from her housemates. None of her girl housemates really care about where she went, let alone the only girl, Pansy, she ever actually talked to. She wasn’t in a mood for sleep, so she sat by the common room fire. Not even Tony, her only friend who was always there to brighten up her day, was there. She only had her dog Max for company.

            “He did to you already, didn’t he?”

            Jude turned around to see Draco’s unkind gray eyes glaring at her. Jude didn’t answer him. She sighed silently and turned back to the fire. All of a sudden, Draco hugged her tight from behind, his mouth breathing at her neck.

            “I know about the prophecy, Light. It must be very hard for you,” Draco whispered. He slowly kissed her bare neck and said, “Don’t worry, Light. I still love you. It’ll be over soon. You are still going to be mine.”

            For once, Jude actually cried in Draco’s arms.


	14. Burden of the Heart

            The trio had to face more than just studies. They had to make sure that they don’t get themselves into serious accidents. They may be pregnant spiritually but that doesn’t mean they can toy around with their bodies as they want to. Harry, of course, was constantly bossing Becka around, asking her not to do this and not to do that, making Becka feel quite sick of him. Rach could take care of herself pretty well, but she couldn’t run away from Harry’s watchful eyes either.

            Jude, on the other hand, had Draco to boss her around. It made up for the loss of care she expected from Prof. Snape, but she still felt downcast about it. She felt as if after all said and done about the prophecy and all, Prof. Snape will have nothing to do with taking care of her safety anymore. She wanted him to care for her like he did when she became a human inferno, but sadly it wasn’t possible now. Jude started cutting Prof. Snape’s class out of disappointment and a little guiltiness, because she felt as if she was betraying him by having Harry’s child first instead of his.

            “Malfoy, do you have any idea where that dunderhead Light is?” Prof. Snape asked one day during Potions class.

            “No, sir,” Draco replied, “I haven’t. She always disappears when we’re going for your class, and then appeared back again for other classes. It’s like she popped out of nowhere.”

            “Brixius, where is Light, may I know?”

            “Sorry, sir,” Tony replied nonchalantly. “I don’t have a clue too.”

            “If she does not show up again, she will be expelled. It’ll cost her more than her points.”

            Draco sighed worriedly. Tony secretly had a dark gleam in his eyes.

                                                                        *

            Jude sat quietly at her side of the table, shoving huge spoonfuls of food into her mouth. She may not have terrible ordeals of stuffing her head into toilet bowls puking her guts out or sucking sour things like all pregnant people do, but she sure worked up an appetite. If stuffing her gut wasn’t bad enough during meals, midnight snacks were a must. The trio often met at the stairs, avoiding Argus Filch, Mrs. Norris and Peeves the poltergeist. The house-elves were pleased to help them and were sworn to secrecy about her and her girlfriends’ late night visits to the kitchen.

            Tony surprisingly scooped a bowl of mash potatoes and moved towards Jude. He sat beside her and handed the bowl of mash potatoes to her. Jude was quite taken aback by his action but no words were spoken between them. He watched her as she scooped the mash potatoes into her mouth, then picked up Jude’s plate to help her get a second helping of everything. She saw that solemn, authoritative look on his face and was sure that he was determined to do something, whatever it was. Draco appeared quite suddenly from the other side and got her a drink. When Tony and Draco’s eyes met, Jude could feel the tense aura between them.

            The next class was Potions. Jude skipped the class again. She hid at Hagrid’s hut and sat there and watched as her dog Max played with the boarhound Fang. Hagrid actually let her hide in his hut when she skipped Prof. Snape’s classes. He liked it when someone helped him dog-sit Fang while he did his rounds. Jude felt so peaceful when she was well away from Prof. Snape. That way she won’t feel so hurt every time she sees him.

            Suddenly the door burst opened. Jude was shocked when she saw that it wasn’t Rubeus Hagrid, but Severus Snape standing at the door, his eyes glaring coldly and dangerously at Jude. Jude shrank behind the two massive dogs Max and Fang. The dogs weren’t too pleased to see him either; they growled at him.

            “Judith Cecelia Light! Do you have any idea what have you done?”

            Jude looked away, afraid to answer.

            “No, you do not have any idea. You are always getting on my nerves and bent on breaking the law, just like that Potter boy! You deliberately missed my classes. That is a very serious offence! Now you come with me to the lab right this minute!”

            Prof. Snape took Jude’s hand and dragged her out of the hut, ignoring Max’s annoyed bark. Jude resisted until she finally shook her hand hastily free from Prof. Snape’s strong grasp.

            “I’m not going to your class,” Jude said quietly. “I can’t go to your class anymore.”

            “And what, pray tell, is your reason not to come to my class?” Prof. Snape said coldly as usual.

            “Because…Because of my…condition. My…pregnancy…”

            “You know very well that spiritually pregnant people will not get affected when they smell anything in the lab. The Headmaster has already briefed you about that before you girls left for your dorms that night.”

            “No, that’s not the point! That’s not the point at all!” Jude finally snapped, letting everything out that has been bottling inside her heart. “When will your puny little cold mind ever understand?! I didn’t want to go to your class because of you! I don’t want to face another day knowing that you’re not going to care about me anymore! You cared about me a lot when I first came here, but now…You never care about me, do you? You just want to keep me alive so that I can fulfill the prophecy and then just dump me like some kind of trash! I cannot put up with this anymore!!”

            “Light, you know that’s not true. Stop yelling. You’re a Slytherin…”

            “To hell with all your talk! It’s hard enough for me to be rejected by you! I love you, Severus, I love you! Don’t you ever understand?! I want to have your baby, not this!” Jude burst into tears as she took out her wand. “I wished I never had this baby!”

            Prof. Snape rushed over to stop her from striking herself. He got there just in time to grab the wand from her hand and threw it away. Jude struggled when Prof. Snape tried to hold her close to stop her from doing anything silly, and she finally used her power to push him away, sending him a few feet away from her. Jude got up and ran away as fast as she could, right into the Forbidden Forest. Prof. Snape gave chase but she was too fast for him and she was already straying into the depths of the forest.

            Prof. Snape huffed, picked up her wand and rushed back into the castle.

                                                                        *

            “I feel so guilty being with you.”

            “Why would you say that?”

            Becka was in one of her secret meetings again with Cedric and she looked quite downcast like Jude as she let herself be cuddle by her beau.

            “Because…Because of the prophecy and all. I’m…I’m pregnant already and…”

            “I know about the prophecy, Rebecca. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

            “But this is not yours. It’s Harry’s. I feel like I have betrayed you or something.”

            Cedric chuckled as he cuddled Becka a little closer, “Nonsense. You didn’t betray me. You and your friends are just fulfilling the prophecy. It’s not that bad. It’ll be over soon.”

            “But…” Becka’s words were stopped short by Cedric’s finger.

            “Just pretend that it’s our baby. That’ll be much easier.”

            Becka smiled as she nuzzled into Cedric’s chest. He smelt of cinnamon and peach. She loved his smell. When they were about to kiss, Rach’s call stopped them short.

            “Becka? BECKA~~!!!”

            “You better go,” Becka said as she tore herself away from Cedric’s hug. Cedric nodded and flew away with his broom. Rach appeared a few minutes later, gasping for breath.

            “What is it, Rach? What’s wrong?” Becka asked worriedly. She had never seen the calm and collected Rach that panicky before.

            “Wait…a…sec…let me…catch my breath…” Rach replied breathless and took in a few deep breaths. Finally she stopped gasping and said, “Jude. It’s Jude. She disappeared into the Forbidden Forest. She had some fight with Prof. Snape and she just took off. I just heard about it a while ago.”

            “What? The Forbidden Forest?! That place is creepy even in daylight! She shouldn’t be there!” Becka started to worry for Jude’s safety. “Who knows what beast could be lurking inside that forest!”

            “Hagrid and some of the teachers are having a search. We better go and see if they’ve found her.”

            “Let’s!” Becka replied as she and Rach rushed quickly towards the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

                                                                        *

            The day at the Forbidden Forest had no difference than it was at night. It was still pretty dark and dense and it was downright scary. The centaurs Ronan, Bane and Firenze galloped around, unperturbed by the eeriness of the forest. Firenze came across a unicorn and stroked its mane as he chit-chatted with it in a friendly matter. Suddenly, the unicorn looked up and gave a soft whinny.

            “What is it, lad? Saw something?” Firenze asked as he looked at the direction of the unicorn was facing.

            There at a distance, he saw a girl with dark-brown hair and green eyes walking about among the trees. She looked as if she was crying, judging by the way she was wiping something off her face. She was quite tall and by the looks of her robes, he knew she was a Hogwarts student.

            “You there! What are you doing here? Don’t you know it’s dangerous to be out alone in the forests?” Firenze called out, trotting towards her. “Come here. It’s not safe out there.”

            The girl remained standing there, looking at him with awe. As soon as Firenze was near, he stopped to look at the girl. It was no other than Jude, the girl who just fought with her beau and went running into the Forbidden Forest without a care in the world. Firenze was surprised to see her.

            “Why, if it isn’t the Black Witch, one of The Ones,” Firenze said in astonishment. “What are you doing out here all alone? You know very well this place lurks with evil.”

            “You’re…You’re a…” Jude was at lost of words at upon seeing this half-man-half-horse creature.

            “I’m a centaur,” Firenze smiled kindly. “Pleased to meet you, Black Witch. Hop onto my back and I’ll take you back to Hagrid’s hut.”

            Jude backed away, shaking her head, “No, I don’t want to go back.”

            “Is it because of someone you like?”

            “How…How did you know?”

            “Come, Black Witch, there’s nothing better than forgiveness,” Firenze said, not answering her question. “Come, hop onto my back and let me take you back. You don’t want to hurt the child in you now, do you?”

            Jude wanted to ask how he knew that she was pregnant, but finally decided not to question him. After all, she’s still quite new to everything in this weird magical world. But she still did not want to go back.

            “Firenze! Firenze! What have you found?” It was Bane’s call. Firenze turned around to face his brothers.

            “Look who has stumbled into our humble domain.” ‘Humble’ was such an understatement to an eerie, horrible place like the Forbidden Forest.

            Bane, together with Ronan, came towards Firenze and were astonished too when they saw Jude sitting timidly on a tree stump.

            “She should not be here!” Bane exclaimed. “She is carrying a child!”

            “We must take her back,” Ronan said. “She’s not safe here.”

            “But she refuses to go,” Firenze replied, gesturing at Jude. “She’s still angry at him.”

            “Still,” Ronan said firmly, “she is not fit to be around danger. Firenze, take her on your back. We’ll drop her at Hagrid’s.”

            So, despite Jude’s loud protests, Firenze picked Jude up and put her on him. She complained a few times when they were on the way, but finally she got tired of complaining. As much as she hated going back, she still had to consider her girlfriends who might be worried about her. And also her other friends too.

            Gradually, voices could be heard at a distance. She recognized Hagrid’s voice, Prof. McGonagalle’s voice, Prof. Lupin’s voice and Prof. Flitwick’s voice. Finally she heard Prof. Snape’s voice. He was actually looking for her too! Jude was both startled and touched.

            “You see, Black Witch? He still cares,” Firenze said softly as he stopped. “Go to him.”

            Jude got off the centaur hurriedly and raced towards the teachers’ call, yelling, “I’m here! I’m here!”

            Before she realized it, she bumped into Prof. Snape. He knelt down and held Jude tight, burying his face onto her dark-brown hair. She never felt like this before. She dreamt of hugging Prof. Snape all the time but she had no idea it would come true. He just hugged her without saying a word. She hugged him back, whispering, “I’m sorry, sir. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”

            When the rest of the teachers arrived, he let her go hastily. She didn’t mind. She knew that he didn’t want to spoil his reputation as the cold, emotionless teacher. Hagrid picked her up high in the air and said, “Oh, ye naughty girl! Ye had us really worried! What wuz ye thinkin’, bein’ out ‘ere alone in da woods?!”

            “Sorry, Hagrid,” Jude apologized to the half-giant, then to the other teachers. “I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise. I’m alright now.”

            “Thank Merlin you are! Have you come across anything? Are you hurt?” Prof. Lupin asked.

            “No, I’m not hurt or anything. But I did come across some centaurs.”

            “Those mysterious beings, aye?” Hagrid grinned as he looked into the dark dense forest. “They won’t ‘arm ev’n a bloomin’ fly, I kin tell ye. Come, let’s git out of dis forest ‘afore we git eaten alive by ‘em creatures.”

                                                                        *

            As soon as they got out of the Forbidden Forest, Rach and Becka rushed to Jude and hugged her, fussing all over her like a little child. Jude had to assure them profusely that she was alright and that she wasn’t hurt or anything.

            “But what about the baby? You didn’t have any accident or anything now, did you?” Becka was still worried.

            “I’m telling you, _I’m perfectly fine_!” Jude said exasperately. “Nothing to worry about, really! Now let’s go back to the castle! I’m starving!”

            So saying, the trio walked quickly towards the castle, laughing as they went, leaving the teachers behind. Inside the castle, she was again fussed by a number of people: namely Harry, Ron, Hermione, Darren, Angelica and lastly Draco. By that time, she was too hungry to explain anything to them. All she wanted to do now is just stuff herself silly with food.

            In the Great Hall, the trio sat at their respective house table and chomped down as much food as their hands can get them, with the help of their housemates’ help in getting them second helpings. After the trio ate their fill, Prof. Dumbledore stood up and said, “Judith, Rachel, and Rebecca. Come with me to my office, please.”

            “Ooh, busted!” the Great Hall echoed with the voices of the students. Jude got up, knowing what was coming for her, but Rach and Becka was surprised that they were in it too. They followed Prof. Dumbledore to his office. On their way, they discussed among themselves quietly.

            “Now this is not right,” Jude said. “It was I who ran into the Forbidden Forest, not you guys. Why are you two called together with me?”

            “I have no idea,” Becka replied, shrugging. “It’s not that standing near the forest is against the law.”

            “We’ll just have to see what this old Headmaster has in store for us,” Rach said as they went up the spiral staircase.

            As they entered Prof. Dumbledore’s office, he told them to wait a bit before disappearing out of the office. The trio felt the familiar feeling again like the first time they came to Hogwarts and did the special sorting session. They sat at the chairs in front of the Headmaster’s desk. Jude went over and braved herself to stroke the phoenix that was perched near his desk. The phoenix closed its eyes as it let Jude tickle its head.

            A few moments later, Prof. Dumbledore came back and sat at his desk. Everyone was silent for a while before he said, “I’m sure you’re having a hard time coping with both studies and your children, are you not?”

            “Sir, please. My friends did nothing wrong. I’m the one skipping Prof. Snape’s classes and I’m the one who ran into the Forbidden Forest,” Jude tried to explain herself. “There’s no need to punish them…”

            “Calm down, Judith. I’m not going to punish anyone of you. You have a perfect reason why you react this way. I know.” Jude blushed when Prof. Dumbledore had that grin on him. She sat back down. Prof. Dumbledore continued, “Here, Judith. Prof. Snape said you dropped this.”

            Jude eyed at her dragon heartstring and ash wand for a while before taking it from the Headmaster’s hand, “Thank you, sir.”

            “Be honest, girls. Do you feel stressed out recently?”

            “Very, sir,” Becka groaned. “Not a day goes by without having to put up with that worried wart Harry!”

            “He even asked Darren to keep an eye on me!” Rach said, exasperated. “If I had to go through one day with him again, I’m gonna explode!”

            “What about you, Judith?” Prof. Dumbledore turned to Jude.

            “Well…Draco has been taking good care of me, which I don’t mind. It’s just that…I had a little problem with Prof. Snape, that’s all.”

            “I understand, Judith. It would definitely be nice if you could actually have a grown-up to talk to than some peers fussing at you all the time, is it not?” Prof. Dumbledore said, nodding with a concerned look on his face.

            “Yeah,” Becka smiled. “You’re a great teacher to talk to.”

            “I’m not much of a listener compared to them,” Prof. Dumbledore chuckled as he pointed behind the trio. The trio turned to look. There stood 3 couples. The first couple looked intelligent and professional. The man had blackish-blue hair and was wearing a pair of glasses and the woman was quite short, about a head shorter than the man, and was tiny and dainty-looking. The other couple were both almost the same height and it was obvious that the woman had maroon hair. The man looked important but kind. Lastly, the third couple was about a little taller than the rest of the two couples. The woman was in her 30’s and hair as long as Jude. She was quite thin and frail, as if she would break if ever you squeeze her a little harder. The man didn’t look too fatherly or handsome either. He was lacking of muscles and looked only a little bit stronger than the woman. Furthermore, he’s black.

            “Girls, these are your real parents—or in Judith’s case, your mother,” Prof. Dumbledore introduced them to the couples.

            The trio was speechless for a while as they stood there staring at the couples. They found it hard to believe that their real parents who only existed in their dreams would be right there in front of their eyes. Only when the couples held out their hands to embrace them did the trio rushed towards them, crying and sobbing like little children once more.

            “You can talk at the guest room, people,” Prof. Dumbledore smiled as he led them out of his office.


	15. Real Parents & Real Names

            The trio nuzzled themselves into their mothers’ arms, smelling their motherly scent. Their mothers cuddled and stroked their daughters’ hair. Their fathers smiled as they tickled their daughters’ throat tenderly.

            “Let me tell you our names,” Rach’s father said. “I’m Richard Ravenclaw, and your mother here is Madhya Yesterday. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a very, very long time now.”

            “My name,” Becka’s jolly father said, “is Gilbert Gryffindor and your mother is Ethel Lattimer. You got your mother’s hair. In fact you look so much like your mother, ha ha ha!”

            “My precious pearl,” Jude’s mother said as she ran her finger around Jude’s face. “My name is Tanya Lucius. This man here is your stepfather Bernard Finnegan.”

            “Hey, girly,” Bernard patted Jude’s head. “I may have no blood relation with you, but I am so looking forward to see you too.”

            “Mom,” Jude said finally. “I know you left me at the Muggle world for my own safety. In fact we all understand why you left us there. But Mom…if you don’t mind me asking…how did you meet…Dad?”

            Tanya looked worriedly at Bernard for a while. Bernard nodded and said, “She has the right to know, dear.”

            Finally Tanya sighed and said, “I was young and foolish then, child. Voldemort took the form of his teenage image they called Tom Riddle and we fell in love. At least I fell in love with him, that is. What sorcery he used to change his form I still have no clue. We had our nights together and when I was pregnant with you, he was abnormally overjoyed and revealed his true identity. I was so scared. Bernard protected me throughout my pregnancy. We had to run constantly to escape Voldemort’s chase, until we resolved to hiding in Hogwarts.”

            “That’s how we all met,” Gilbert joined in the conversation. “We were informed about the prophecy and were advised to hide in Hogwarts until you girls were born. Tanya came in the last. Believe me, it was quite exciting. Not a day goes by without us worrying that You-Know-Who breaching into Hogwarts.”

            “One by one, you girls were born,” Madhya said, still stroking Rach’s hair. “It was both a joyous and sad day for us because as soon as Rachel, the last born came, we had to take you away to the Muggle world. We had some Muggle friends there and they were glad to take care of you.”

            “When You-Know-Who was defeated by the Boy Who Lived, we did think of taking you back,” Ethel said. “We want nothing but to watch you grow up and lead a lovely life in this lovely world.”  

            “But You-Know-Who was only defeated, not killed,” Richard said. “As long as he is still alive, he will still come and search you here, yet he’s not powerful enough to travel to the Muggle world. So, as painful as it seemed, we had to leave you there and monitor you yearly with our sole crystal ball that can show us the outside world.”

            “Is it the crystal ball that you gave me last Christmas, Mom?” Jude asked eagerly.

            “No, child,” Tanya shook her head. “Your crystal ball is for Divination use, that is, if you’re taking Divination.”

            Jude nodded. Tanya smiled and hugged her even more closely.

            “Oh, look at you,” Ethel said as she held Becka’s face towards her and looked. “You have grown up so much. I can’t believe you girls are actually 13.”

            “14, to be exact, Ma,” Becka pointed out.

            “I’m so sorry for what you have to go through,” Tanya said quietly. “I know you didn’t mean to kill those people…”

            “Oh, come on, don’t make your daughter upset about this past, woman,” Bernard half-scolded his wife.

            “Bernard, it’s OK,” Jude said, laying a hand on his arm. “Mom, I don’t blame you. You were young. It’s not your fault I become who and what I am. It’s Voldemort, my Dad.”

            “You got a strong daughter there, Tanya,” Gilbert chuckled as he laid his hand on his own daughter. He really was a jolly old fellow.

            “We only got to see you through our crystal ball, but we couldn’t hear your voices,” Richard said sadly. “What are your names, may we know?”

            “Judith Cecelia Light,” Jude replied.

            “Rebecca Levi the 2nd,” Becka said with a beam on her face.

            “And Rachel Suzette Yearne,” Rach finished off. “Err, do we have real names or something?”

            The couples laughed heartily and said, “Of course you have. But it’s OK if you want to keep this name.”

            “What are our names?” Becka asked, an interested look on her face.

            “Well, your real name is Gillian Gryffindor,” Gilbert replied as he ruffled Becka’s hair, followed by a low guffaw.

            “And your name is Rowena Ravenclaw, under your ancestor’s name,” Madhya told Rach. Rach widened her eyes in wonder at being named under her ancestor.

            “And your name is Samantha Finnegan Slytherin-Riddle,” Tanya said before giggling when Jude gaped at that weird name. “It is a tad mouthful though. We had Bernard’s surname as your middle name.”

            “You girls have…you know, did it with Harry?” Ethel asked tentatively.

            “Yes, Ma,” Becka grinned, blushing a little. “We’re…pregnant…”

            “We’re gonna be grandparents! How smashing!” Gilbert clapped his hands with glee.

            “I didn’t think we’d be old that fast!” Richard wrinkled his nose and adjusted his glasses. Everyone laughed heartily at his complaint.

            “Look on the bright side!” Bernard joked. “At least we don’t have Harry as a real son-in-law yet, or we’ll be even older than before!”

            That sent everyone into fits of laughter again.

            The trio and their parents continued to chit-chat the whole night through. When it’s time for them to turn in, they begged their parents to tuck them in. They dragged their parents to their house dorm, introduced them proudly to their housemates and led them to their dorm. They were tucked in to bed and their parents kissed them goodnight.

            “You have your father’s hair,” Tanya said as she stroked Jude’s hair.

            “And your eyes, Mom,” Jude pointed at her mother’s eyes.

            “Goodnight, my precious pearl.”

            “Goodnight, Mom, Bernard.”

                                                                        *

            “Thank you so much, Albus, for letting us see our precious children,” Richard shook Albus Dumbledore’s hand.

            “My pleasure, Richard. It was a bit risky, but I’m sure it’s worth it.”

            “The risk is getting greater,” Bernard said worriedly. “We worry that You-Know-Who would be too strong even for Hogwarts to hold on.”

            “We must have faith, everyone,” Albus said solemnly. “Our future lies on the hands of your children and their heirs.”

                                                                        *

            There were two figures standing in the middle of the Quidditch field. They both looked around before coming towards each other to meet.

            “Has the mark developed into its full state on the Dark Witch?” One of them asked.

            “Not entirely,” the other replied. “Maybe it will in a day or two.”

            “It better be. She is essential for the Dark Lord to destroy.”

            “I understand that.”

            After a momentary silence, the second figure asked, “Still have not destroyed the Black Witch?”

            The first figure shook his head. The other figure asked, “What is the hesitation?”

            “She…She is the Dark Lord’s daughter. I have no right to kill her.”

            “Have you forgotten what the Dark Lord told you? She is the mother of the child that would kill him. No matter how the Dark Lord tries to make her or her child to be in his side, he will still die by the child’s hands. They are of no use to continue his legacy anymore. She must be destroyed.”

            “I…I understand…”

            The second figure turned and looked up the bright moon up in the sky. He then turned to the first figure and said, “I must leave now. Carry on with your duty. Long live Voldemort.”

            “Long live Voldemort,” the first figure muttered and watched as the other figure flew away on his broom.


	16. The Perfect Man

           14th February. Valentine’s Day. The day where all lovers of Hogwarts are able to express themselves to their spouse.

            The trio wasn’t excluded in this lovie-dovie season. Despite her pregnant condition, Rach still get scores of letters and candies from secret admirers just like last year’s Valentine’s Day. Not that she was interested in any of them at all. She was practically an Ice Queen.

            Becka had her secret meeting with Cedric and gave him a handmade—or magic-made, to be exact—Valentine’s Day card for him. It was a very interesting card indeed—it emits out a sweet smell of flowers and popped out buds and petals of roses when he opened it. Cedric thanked her and transfigurated a handful of dead ferns into a huge bouquet of love-in-a-mists and forget-me-nots. Those two lovebirds have definitely a beautiful Valentine’s Day today.

            Jude did give something to Prof. Snape—a real handmade card. She had quite a talent in drawing cartoons and anime characters and she made the card for him, with no magic at all. Of course, she waited until _everyone_ has left the lab before slipping it onto his desk and left without a word. Draco got something for both her and the baby: a bouquet of roses for Jude and an expensive-looking stuffed lion for the baby. Tony didn’t give her anything, that’s expected.

            But that night, Jude had a surprise visit from Mrs. Norris. She immediately went to Jude’s bed and leaped onto her lap. Lucky for her that she wasn’t asleep yet, or she would’ve howled the whole place down.

            “What the…Mrs. Norris! What are you doing here?” Jude spotted an envelope in the cat’s mouth. “What have you got there, Mrs. Norris?”

            Jude took the envelope and fed the skinny cat with some tidbits she had smuggled into her room as a midnight snack for both her and Max (her appetite was still strong and she had to keep her dog from whining and alerting everybody). Max smelt Mrs. Norris from under the bed and growled. The cat hissed and snatched the tidbit she held out for her before rushing out of the dorm. Jude grabbed Max’s collar just in time to stop him from chasing her.

            The envelope felt slightly weighty when she held it. She emptied the contents and brought it near the window to have a good glimpse at it. It was a pendulum. A shiny crystal pendulum the colour of the sunset sky. It sparkled under the moonlight, glittering like a very rare jewel plucked from the crown of Queen Elizabeth. There was also no letter enclosed with the gift, but she saw a gothic ‘S’ engraved on that pendulum.

            She smiled. She knew who gave her that pendulum. She put it on and admired the clean-cut crystal that reflected the sunset colours on her palms. She kissed it before going back to bed.

            “Thanks, Severus.”

                                                                        *

            Rach groaned silently as she recalled the secret admirers that were beginning to stalk her like a spy. Looks like her Ice Queen attitude did not stop them from liking her. Those not-so-secret admirers were just driving her up the wall. If only she had someone beside her. Just anybody. Anybody she knew at all. ‘If only I could just “borrow” someone to get rid of those dunderheads once and for all.

            “Harry?” Rach muttered to herself. “No, Harry’s not who I want. He may be the Boy Who Lived and the father of this little critter, but he is still liable to be pulverized by them. Ron? Not in a million years! Tony? I have no idea what’s going on in his head, let alone be with him. Darren? Impossible…”

            “That’ll be all for today. Class dismissed,” Prof. Snape said as he sat back at his desk.

            That’s when Rach hit the jackpot. She quickly approached the cold teacher and asked, “Prof. Snape, sir? Is there any spell that can change animals into humans? A reverse version of the animagus, perhaps?”

            “Yes,” Prof. Snape replied, folding his arms. “There is a spell on that. It’s in the lowest level of animagus lessons. Why would you want to know?”

            Rach began to give out those cute, pleading eyes.

                                                                        *

            Slipper slinked and curled round and round the bed as he had his slithering ‘conversation’ with Salem and Max. The canine and feline had a way of traveling around the castle on their own. They’ve come across a lot of interesting things on the way to the Ravenclaws’ house dorm: Dobby and Winky feeding them when they scavenged the kitchen, Hagrid and Fang playing with them while Hagrid did his rounds, Madam Pince shooing them out of the library, Moaning Myrtle seeking a little comfort from them in the toilet, etc…until finally blending in with the Ravenclaw students and slinking into the dorm before the door shut onto their tails.

            “Hello, Max and Salem. What are you doing here?” Rach just came back from the potions lab. She picked up Slipper and stroked his shiny black scaly skin. “Time to go back to your mistresses now, boys. Run along now. Go, shoo, shoo!”

            As soon as the canine and feline left, she fussed around with her beloved snake. Slipper loved being fussed at. He coiled and uncoiled around as he heard her say, “Guess what, Slipper? I had this sort of idea, you see. You know those rascals who were hunting me down like a pack of wolves, right? Well, you see, the problem is they didn’t buy my Ice Queen attitude. I’m not yet into relationships, you know? I’m a woman of free will, see? I just want to get them off my tail!”

            Slipper cocked his scaly head, as if wanting to hear more of her story. He always did that.

            “Listen, Slipper boy, this is interesting! I was thinking that if I could get a pretend-boyfriend, they’ll leave me alone. So, I want to ‘borrow’ someone to do the job. But not just anyone. He has to be someone I know, someone who is close to me. Guess who I chose?”

            Slipper looked at her with questioning eyes.

            “I chose you! Now, Slipper, don’t be alarmed. I’m not saying that I’m gonna take you to them and say that you’re my boyfriend. That’ll be totally ludicrous! What I’m saying is that I am going to change you into a temporary human, let’s say for about 24 hours or so, with this spell I got from Prof. Snape. It’s part of the animagus lessons. Whaddaya say?”

            Slipper cocked his head down, as if saying hesitantly, “I don’t know…”

            “Come on! It’ll be fun! Just for 24 hours! Don’t you want to know how it feels like to have 2 feet instead of slinking around on your belly for a day? Think about it! A human for a day! Other animals would kill to get this chance!”

            Slipper had a “Well…” look on his scaly face.

            “I’ll ask Mummy to send a large, live chicken for you when we’re done.”

            That caught Slipper’s attention. He coiled around Rach’s neck and hissed in agreement. Rach grinned as she set him on the floor. She took out her wand, saying, “Stay still now, Slipper. This is gonna be such a thrill.”

            Slipper stayed still. He was quite nervous about the whole thing—he had seen how a man looks like and he wondered how he would turn out to be. As he waited for the blow, Rach raised her wand high, the familiar blue and red sparks flickered at the tip, and closed her eyes in concentration.

            “Omne conspecti, omni consartia!”

            The red and blue sparks trailed out of the wand and engulfed Slipper. Slowly he began to feel the change—from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. An extra layer of skin grew above his eyes and he was able to close them. He dared not open his eyes yet. He feared the results.

            After what seemed like an eternity, he heard Rach said, “OK, Slipper. It’s over now.”

            Slipper opened his eyes. For the first time, he could actually blink his eyes. It was sensational. Rach wrapped her towel around his lower half and held up a large mirror to let him inspect her greatest work. Slipper was awed at what he saw—he was actually standing on his own two quite wobbly feet. He scanned his fully grown ten-fingered hands and his long, quite muscular arms. He was fairly tanned and quite well-built too. There was a touch of Eurasian in him. He touched his face, amazed at everything he had in it.

            As he continued looking, he noticed that he actually had hair on his head, a colour the exact tone of his former snake skin: a mixture of earth brown and stale green. He had slightly protruding fang among his clean, white teeth, but no big deal. And he was marveled by the colour of his eyes—a haunting golden yellow, the eyes of a serpent.

            “This is way cool!” Rach beamed. “This is so much better than Polyjuice Potion! Now, let’s get you dressed. I hope you can talk human now.”

            “Yess, I guesss sso,” Slipper replied, some of his words came in a slur.

            Rach got him one of her clothes and robes that she had enlarged and underwear she ‘borrowed’ from Darren. She taught him how to wear them. Slipper soon got the hang of it. Rach rummaged her luggage and plucked out a pair of her brother’s shoes (which he left it there and completely forgotten about it), waved her wand to enlarge them and passed them to Slipper. With the decent human attire, Slipper actually looked quite handsome.

            “Ahh, great!” Rach let out a satisfied sigh. “That’ll do for now. Now, remember, when I show you to those pathetic dimwits, you are to address yourself as…Matthew Roberts Lee. Nickname Matt. Got it?”

            “Matthew Robertsss Lee,” Slipper repeated. “Got it.”

            Rach cocked her head, as if she heard something. Yes, it was footsteps. Her Ravenclaw comrades have finally come back one by one. She had missed dinner but she didn’t mind. She tugged Slipper’s sleeve and said, “Come on Slipper. Let’s make your first appearance. Remember, your name is Matt.”

            Slipper nodded as he let Rach drag him into the common room.  

                                                                        *

            The next day, word was spreading about Rach’s ‘boyfriend’. Rach told everyone that Slipper was her fiancée whom her parents have got for her when she was just a child, and he was here to visit. She was simply enjoying herself gloating around him. He was really astounding and played his part well. All Rach’s secret admirers knew where they stood and retreated from her. Some girls were quite jealous of Rach for having such a perfect man by her side. Some of Rach’s secret admirers were jealous too—more like envy and desire—at Slipper who had already made his ‘first move’ at Rach. They glared at them with a vengeance every time they passed by.

            Slipper was pretty amazed himself. Every time they pass by a secret admirer, Rach would deliberately wrap her arms around his arm or leaned her head against his shoulder. As Slipper was used to coiling himself around Rach, he would automatically wrap his arms around her waist or her neck. Usually it felt normal. But this time it was different. Slipper suddenly felt a chemical reaction in him—his heart rate increased, his face felt hot and his fingers became cold. He never felt like this before towards Rach. He found it hard to believe, but he didn’t deny it.

            He has fallen in love with his own mistress.

            Rach somehow felt a little bit of this chemical reaction in her too. She decided to ignore it. There was no way she could fall in love with her own pet! Yet she couldn’t stop herself blushing.

            Jude and Becka knew at once that she’s pulling everyone’s leg. They could see through her lies quite easily. Besides, they never heard Mr. and Mrs. Ravenclaw said anything about getting her a fiancée. They confronted them at the library.

            “Alright, Rach, cough it up,” Jude hissed. “We know that’s not your fiancée!”

            “Yeah. Neither your real parents nor your Muggle parents said anything about letting you have a fiancée or have any marriage agreements with anyone else!” Becka joined in. “Who are you kidding?”

            Rach was unperturbed. “I have no intention to fool you guys. I just wanna keep some good-for-nothing bimboes off my tail.” With that, Rach told them about her plan quietly. Jude and Becka beamed immediately.

            “Woah! Way cool!” Jude exclaimed as she examined Slipper from head to toe. “I didn’t know you could turn out to be such a good-looking human!”

            “Thanksss,” Slipper replied, scratching his half and elbow-length hair sheepishly.

            “I wonder if I could use it on Salem,” Becka considered. “How long does the effect last?”

            “24 hours,” Rach replied.

            “Then you’d better do more gloating. Time is ticking,” Jude replied and went off quickly with Becka. Potions class, as usual.

            “I think we did a great job,” Rach tried to sound casual, her heart still a little bit jumpy. “I think they finally know where they stand. I guess they’ll leave me alone now.”

            “All the better, misss,” Slipper replied, wrapping his arms around her neck. “All the better.”

            He could smell Rach’s freshly washed hair. She got a bit dirty during Herbology class and had to take a shower. Slipper was glad he’s human; he could smell better with his human nose.

            He placed his nose near her hair and inhaled deeply.

                                                                        *

            Rach walked down the corridor, heading towards the girls’ toilet. She left Slipper alone for a while, telling him to be careful of the might-be vicious secret admirers.

            Before she could step into the toilet, she was harshly pushed inside from behind. The attacker then dragged her into one of the cubicles and the door was locked. Rach was annoyed.

            “Hey, what’s the big idea?! You can’t do this to me!”

            The attacker, or attackers—there were two boys—turned around, clasping Rach’s mouth shut. Rach recognized them at once—they were two of the secret admirers who were stupid enough to write their names on their Valentine card, Crabbe and Goyle.

            “You…!” Rach started, but muffled by Crabbe’s strong hand.

            “Hush, girl,” Goyle laid a finger on his puckered lips. He grinned and whispered, “Don’t worry, Rachel. We’ll be very gentle.”

            “What do you mean? Let go of me! Let go…!” Rach choked on her last words when she felt Crabbe’s hand between her legs. Goyle held her down, clasping her mouth shut quite tightly. Crabbe began to kiss and nibble her neck. Rach could feel his breath on her neck. She tried to struggle but they were much stronger.

            When Rach thought that she was done for, she realized that the boys’ attack has stopped abruptly. She saw Slipper dragging them away and made them hit the wall. Slipper was glaring at him with those haunting yellow eyes. Rach had never seen Slipper so serious before.

            “No one is to lay a finger on my mistress!” Slipper hissed, his slur forgotten. He took Rach’s hand and was about to take her away when the two fatsos rammed their bodies at Slipper. Slipper almost choked as he staggered to get up. Crabbe and Goyle were about to chant something with their wands when all of a sudden, Slipper regained composure in an instant and kicked off the wands, breaking them. The next second, Slipper bared his fangs and bit deeply into their shoulders.

            The boys yelled in pain and shoved Slipper away. They fell onto their knees, clutching their throbbing shoulder, complaining loudly. Slipper wiped his lips in contempt and went to Rach. He could feel her trembling. She hadn’t gotten over the shock yet. Slipper slowly wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back. By then his slur came back, “Shh…It’sss alright, misss. They won’t hurt you anymore, misss. I promisse you thisss…”

            He helped Rach up and led out of the toilet, still comforting her, leaving the two fatsos still complaining about their pain. After hearing the story from Slipper, the trio wasn’t surprised when the Hospital Wing started to complain about a poisonous snake on the loose.

            “Weird,” Jude said as she stuffed in some cream cakes she got from the kitchen. “You’re a python, right? You’re not supposed to have venom; you’re supposed to squeeze them to death.”

            “I’m not a pure-bred python,” Slipper replied casually. “My father wass a king cobra.”

                                                                        *

            The sun has set. It’s almost the end of the day. Slipper followed Rach back to the Ravenclaws’ dorm. The animagus spell was slowly wearing off. He could feel it. His heart sank.

            “I had a wonderful time today, Slipper. Thanks for your help,” Rach blushed as she tickled Slipper’s throat, like she did always. She was feeling much better now after the terrifying ordeal, yet somehow she was reluctant to let Slipper turned back to his snake state. She didn’t know why.

            Slipper took her hand and placed it on his cheek, closing his eyes to feel the smoothness of her palm. He turned and gazed into his mistress’s eyes. Those sky-blue eyes. He felt so mesmerized because of them. He couldn’t believe that he had been with her for so long, and yet never noticed those beautiful eyes.

            “I love you, miss. I love you.”

            Before Rach could react, he advanced his face towards Rach and placed his lips onto hers. He let his tongue linger inside her mouth, tasting every corner, savouring every feeling of exhilaration and love for her. Slowly, he felt Rach returning his kiss. They both kissed deeply and passionately, like the whole world were theirs and no one else’s. After they parted, Rach hugged him tight. He could hear her sobbing. She didn’t want to let him change back but it was too late for regrets now.

            As the minutes passed by, he felt the change in him. The spell was wearing off bit by bit. Everything on his body began to change. He wanted to stay, he was reluctantly to let go. He wanted to maintain this way, but his body wouldn’t allow it. Soon, he found himself slumped onto the cold floor, hissing, unable to talk anymore. Rach cried even bitterly as she held her snake close to her. She couldn’t deny this feeling any longer.

            “I love you too, Slipper. I love you too,” she whispered as the snake coiled itself around her waist, looking moody.

            “I’m going to find a way to make this spell permanent. I swear I will.”


	17. The Kidnapping

            “Hey, what subjects are you going to pick?”

            “I dunno, what about you?”

            The trio held their parchments on their laps, trying to decide which elective subjects to take for their third year. It was a pretty short list, with only 5 subjects, but the trio was still wracking their brains trying to decide.

            “I, for one, am taking Divination,” Jude said, ticking that subject. “No point wasting the crystal ball. I just love venturing into the unknown!”

            “I’m definitely taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes,” Rach declared. “I love to study ancient languages and counting.”

            “I dunno,” Becka went undecided. “Care of Magical Creatures sounds OK, but all these subjects seemed difficult yet interesting, except Muggle Studies. No way am I taking that!”

            Finally, after much wondering and pondering, Jude decided on Divination, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. Becka finally chose Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy. Rach stuck to her original decision. They signed their parchment and sent an owl to Prof. Dumbledore’s office.

            “Guys, look, look! Look what I got!” Becka squealed as she took out a box she put under the table. Jude and Rach craned their necks and squealed in delight as well. There were 3 kittens: one was pure black, another was pure white and the last one was black with white on its feet, tip of the tail, ears and a shape of a white diamond on its forehead. All of them stared back at them with glassy blue eyes.

            “Kawaii-ne!” Jude giggled as she picked up one to cuddle. Rach also took one. “I suppose they’ve done weaning?”

            “Almost,” Becka replied proudly. “One of my juniors was shocked to find her white Persian cat missing. She was in a glum for days. Salem also constantly disappeared to goodness-knows-where and only returned during bedtime. Finally we decided to follow Salem to see where he went and we both found him and the Persian cat in a very dark corner of the common room weaning 6 kittens!”

            “Interesting!” Rach said admiringly. Of course, the Ice Queen that she was, she didn’t tell anyone about her plans on searching for a remedy to make Slipper human. No way was she going to get him a mate. Slipper belongs to her and her alone.

            “My Max had a hitch on one of my juniors’ Doberman dog,” Jude said grudgingly, “and that rascal got that bitch pregnant. My junior was horrified. He insisted on me paying a fine sum of penalty. Could you imagine him asking me to pay 30 Galleons just because of Mother Nature’s natural grace? The nerve of him!”

            “So did you pay?” Becka asked.

            “Nope. Draco helped me out by somewhat blackmailing the junior. So the junior finally relented by telling me to take all the puppies away as soon as they’re born. He is so bored!”

            “Looks like Draco still has a hick on you, even when you are so over-ratedly pregnant,” Rach commented witih a sly grin.

            “Excuse me! I’m not the only one over-ratedly pregnant here! You guys are also into this, remember?!”

            “Hey, girls! Anything interesting you’d like to share with me?” A voice called them from behind. The ever familiar (and famous) Harry Potter.

            “Good morning, Harry,” the trio said in unison.

            “Quidditch seasons is here again. Interested in joining?”

            “Um…F.Y.I?” Becka cleared her throat and pointed at her abdomen. Rach and Jude did the same.

            “Oh, sorry. I forgot,” Harry replied sheepishly. “Well, there’s always next year.”

            “How many more months, Harry?” Jude asked. “Of course, we don’t feel any bulge, that’s good news, but the whole thing is just dragging and dragging like heck! We’re tried of being over-protected by everyone, especially that fussy ol’ Madame Pomfrey!”

            “Including you!” Becka said, pointing at the awkward Harry.

            “Don’t worry, girls. I may not be sure about the whole thing, but when it’s time, I’m sure you’ll be in good hands.”

            “That’s what we’re afraid of,” Rach said, a hint of ‘Duh’ in her tone.

                                                                        *

            The Quidditch game was, again, a big hit. Everyone was enthusiastic, especially the trio. They cheered madly at every game the teams score and every Bludger the team players managed to escape and hit. And most importantly, the exhilaration when the Seeker gets the Snitch.

            But their fun was short-lived. Weird things kept happening on the field. The Bludgers suddenly went wild and almost broke a player’s leg and skinned many others. The Quaffle came alive and attacked the players. Even the Golden Snitch deliberately made itself found and bit the players fiercely.

            Yes, it actually bites.

            The last straw was that the sky suddenly turned dark—like a thunder storm coming—thick with evil. Everyone gasped. They recognized that evil.

            It was the evil of Voldemort.

            Thunder boomed. Lightning flashed. Showers of fatal, treacherous lightning came down and struck the Quidditch teams and the spectators, focusing on the trio. Everyone panicked and ran to seek refuge in the castle. A strong invisible force pinned the trio down. Jude was able to counter it and was heading towards her girlfriends to save them when all of a sudden, Jude was struck by the incoming lightning. Jude yelled in pain before collapsing to the ground. By then, the force has lifted itself from Rach and Becka.

            “Jude! Jude, oh no, Jude! Don’t die!” Becka cried as she tried to shake Jude awake.

            “I’m fine. I’m not dead yet. I just can’t move right now…” Jude said slowly. “Am I still alive?”

            “Duh! Obviously you are! You scared us…” Rach was about to help her up when she heard a stern call.

            “What are you girls still doing here?!” It was Prof. Snape, risking his life through the showering lightning bolts towards the trio. “You dunderheads will be killed! Get inside the castle this instance!”

            Hagrid was behind him, and with one swipe, he picked up Jude by the waist and hobbled along behind Prof. Snape leading the other two back into Hogwarts castle. Jude groaned slightly—she was hoping Prof. Snape would carry her in his arms.

            Everyone gathered at the Great hall. Rach and Becka were ushered inside towards the staff’s table. Jude was taken to the Hospital Wing straight away and, to Jude’s dread, Madame Pomfrey got shocked off the roof again and fussed at her all over. Prof. Dumbledore announced to everyone to stay in their dorms for the rest of the day. Prof. Dumbledore then took the other duo and Harry to the Hospital Wing to check and see if Jude was alright.

            “You OK now, Jude?” Rach asked, feeling her forehead for a temperature.

            “Yeah, I suppose. I thought I was a goner.”

            “Are you sure?” Harry asked, worried. “That was one hard blow. Any normal wizard or Muggle could get killed.”

            “I’m perfectly a-OK,” Jude reassured them. “No biggie, really. Although I _am_ surprised of being able to survive.”

            “Then…is the baby…?” Becka asked, feeling even more worried than the others.

            “The child is alright. He really is a fighter, that baby,” Madame Pomfrey replied, then turned to Jude and said, “It’s a boy. I used a spell to see it.”

            Everyone sighed in relief.

            Prof. McGonagalle and Prof. Snape stepped into the Hospital Wing. Jude blushed and looked away from him. Her heart still thumped at the sight of the cold, shoulder-length haired professor—she didn’t want him to see her blushing.

            “All students have been sent to their dorms. The Great Hall is totally evacuated,” Prof. McGonagalle, as Deputy Headmistress, reported to her superior. Prof. Dumbledore nodded.

            “I’m sure you’re aware that what happened just now is neither ordinary sorcery nor bad weather. He’s finally found out about the Witches’ whereabouts.”

            “But even if he knew about where we are,” Rach said, “he would never enter Hogwarts! He couldn’t even step into Hogwarts! The book on Hogwarts’ history said so.”

            “Unless we have a spy or an accomplice working for him. A Death Eater, perhaps,” Harry secretly eyed at Prof. Snape.

            “Or maybe Voldemort has become so strong, he could penetrate the castle within seconds!” Becka said in dread.

            “Alright,” Prof. Dumbledore decided to take charge of things. “Suppose Harry’s right. Maybe there is a spy among Hogwarts, maybe not. I shall go and see to this matter personally. The point is we have to ensure the Witches’ safety.”

            “I suggest we move the Witches to our own dormitories. It is not safe to let them go back to their own dorms anymore,” Prof. Snape suddenly suggested. Everyone, except Prof. Dumbledore, looked at him as if he had lost his marbles.

            “Very well,” Prof. Dumbledore nodded in agreement. “Girls, you are going to live in your house teachers’ room for the time being. You’ll be safe with grown-ups around you.”

            “But I don’t want to live with Prof. Flitwick!!” Rach protested. “He may be nice, but I don’t fancy living in the same room with him!”

            Prof. Dumbledore chuckled and said, “Very well. You can stay with Prof. Sinistra then.”

            Rach clapped her hands with glee.

                                                                        *

            It has been 2 weeks since the trio has been living with their teachers. They were adjusting pretty well with their new surroundings, except Jude. It was the first time for Jude to step into Prof. Snape’s domain. Everything was as dark and as sinister as he was. Jude couldn’t help feeling awkward every time she entered his room. The first time she came, Prof. Snape gave her so many ground rules, like ‘Don’t touch this’, ‘Don’t move that’, ‘Don’t sit there’, ‘Don’t let your dog on anything’, etc, etc…

            “Are you expecting me just stand here and don’t move?”

            “If you are capable to do so, I suppose you should.”    

            Jude scowled at him and said, “Very well then. I will do the exact opposite of everything you say, if that’s the attitude I have to face every time I enter this room.”

            So saying, she ran towards Prof. Snape’s bedroom and jumped onto his grayish-blue bed, tossing and turning around as she let her whole body have the feel of the soft, fluffy bed. When Prof. Snape gave chase, she got off the bed and got herself a drink from Prof. Snape’s jar and glass on his table. She even rushed to his bathroom and tested the running water from the eerie gargoyle-shaped tap he had. She rushed to his shelves of books and flipped through almost every book he had there. Finally she went into his office which was attached to his room by a secret door on the wall and looked at all the potion ingredients he had on his shelf. Prof. Snape stormed into the office and grabbed the jar of silverweed she was holding.

            “If you ever step into this office without _my_ personal permission and touch _my_ things, I am going to…”

            “What?” Jude looked at him as if he was just an insignificant other. “You’ll put a curse on me?”

            Prof. Snape glared at the unmoving Jude venomously before letting out a sharp huff, saying, “If there is nothing else you want to do here, I shall have to ask you to leave _immediately_!”

            Jude let out a sweet smile and said as she left the office, “That wasn’t so bad now, wasn’t it?”

            That night, when they were about to turn in, Jude was ordered to sleep on the sofa bed that was opposite the grayish-blue bed of Prof. Snape. He threw her some old, but still intact, blankets for her and retired to his own bed. Jude stayed on the sofa bed for quite sometime until she heard the faint breathing of Prof. Snape asleep on his bed. Slowly she sneaked out of the sofa bed and let Max the dog take her place. She hushed the dog, tucked him in and crept as silently as possible towards Prof. Snape’s bed.

            When she was about to climb up the bed, Prof. Snape suddenly sat up with his wand pointing dangerously at her throat. Jude gasped and froze in the midway. Prof. Snape let out an exasperated sigh and growled, “What do you think you’re doing?”

            “I just wanna sleep with you. That sofa bed was quite uncomfortable,” Jude replied as she slipped into his blanket.

            “Get out, Light. You know very well you’re not supposed to be here.”

            “No,” Jude said indignantly as she brought the blanket over her. She closed her eyes and refused to budge. Prof. Snape actually had to use the Wingardium Leviosa spell to get rid of her.

            That was the first night in Prof. Snape’s room. The next nights to come, she tried to creep up to Prof. Snape’s bed again and again, but to no avail. He always shooed her away with the levitation spell. Finally, at the second last day of the first week, she succeeded. Prof. Snape did wake up to find her sleeping beside him and wanted to use the spell but in the end, he got tired of it. He let her be.

            Jude, half-asleep as she was, could have sworn she felt Prof. Snape’s arm around her.

                                                                        *

            The night was calm. The trio slept peacefully at their respective house teachers’ rooms. As usual, Jude would climb up to Prof. Snape’s bed and lay down to sleep beside him. Only Rach and Becka had no complaints about having a sofa bed as a place to sleep.

            Suddenly, a soft mellow music echoed through the moon-lit sky. It was the tune of a flute, playing nice and slow, like a song from the horizon. It was obviously directed only to Becka because she got up from her sofa bed automatically and yet Prof. McGonagalle didn’t stir. She walked out of the room, her eyes glowing red. Salem woke up when he felt himself slide off Becka’s tummy and tried to grope at her in vain. The trance she fell into was too deep.

            The music brought her to the Quidditch field. A dark figure was standing there, waiting, playing the flute. If Salem were to follow her, he would’ve recognized the smell of that figure, including another smell. A smell of evil.

            Pure evil. Pure venom.

            The figure stopped playing. He put down his flute and waited until Becka regained her consciousness. The clouds moved rapidly by a strong gust of icy-cold wind. Becka came back to her senses and look to see where she was.

            “This…is the field. What am I doing here? Have I been sleep-walking? Weird…”

            By then, she noticed the figure’s presence. The moon was covered by the dark clouds. She squinted her eyes to see him better but she could only make out his shape.

            “Who are you? What are you doing here? What am _I_ doing here?”

            The figure didn’t reply. He just stood there in silence. Slowly, someone else appeared, descending himself to the ground from above. He passed his broom to the first figure and walked towards Becka. He held her down. Becka recognized this grasp. It felt like…

            Before she could make sense of it all, a grayish-black mist emitted from the first figure’s back. It stood tall and mighty, like a huge Eiffel Tower of Paris. Becka gaped as it continued to tower over them and tried to cower away, but the person holding her had a much stronger grip. All of a sudden, the ‘mist’s’ eyes popped open, glowing red. Like serpent’s eyes. The mist continued to form into a shape of a middle-aged man.

            Those eyes rang a bell. Becka staggered backwards, “Vol…Volde…”    

            “Get the Dark Witch. Now,” A deep rumbling came from the man. He stretched out an arm with spidery fingers and gave the figure a slight shove. The figure dug out his wand from his robe sleeve and advanced towards Becka. As the moon slowly reappeared from behind the clouds, Becka could see the people who tried to get hold of her. She looked behind, then looked to the front. She gasped and stammered, “You…It’s you…!”

            The figure waved his wand at her and immediately, the mark she got on her left wrist began to burn like hell. She tried to scream but the figure that first held her down clasped his hand over her mouth. Becka’s eyes burned red for a few seconds as the mark on her hand glowed like a burning coal. Slowly Becka fainted and fell into the figure’s arms. He picked her up and sat her beside him on the broom. Voldemort let out a devilish laugh.

            “My Lord…What are you going to do with her?” the figure with the broom asked.

            “What do you think I want to do with her?” Voldemort asked with a hint of evil in his voice.

            “But you promised…”

            “Emotions are always a weakness. Have you forgotten that? Isn’t this what you wanted to get back at Harry?”

            “But I…” the figure held Becka closer to him.

            “Come away. We’ll discuss this later.”

            “My Lord…” the other figure breathed as he fell on his knees. He seemed weak after the ordeal of letting Voldemort who was attached on his back out into the open.

            “You will not die. I promised you your life now, haven’t I? You’re on your own now.”

            Voldemort materialized a broom from his hand and flew away with the other figure out of Hogwarts ground. The weak figure fell onto the ground like a fallen tree, gasping silently for breath.

            “I’m sorry, Rebecca…I had to do this…”

            Under the moonlight, his golden long hair shone.


	18. Enemy at the Gates

            “What?! Rebecca has disappeared?!” Prof. Dumbledore exclaimed.

            “I’m sorry, Albus. I didn’t know she would sneak out. I didn’t even realize that she left. I’m so sorry…” Prof. McGonagalle apologized profusely.

            “No time for that now,” Prof. Lupin urged. “We have to look for her now. She might still be in the premises.”

            Jude and Rach, who overheard their conversation, also joined them in their search. They searched from one place to another and even checked the dungeons. When all places were checked but there was no sign of Becka, Jude decided to use Max for a change. She let him smell her shoes and ordered him to track down the scent. Max took them all the way to the Quidditch field where they found Tony lying on the grass unconscious. His robes were torn to shreds and his back was not a pretty sight. It was exposed, and I mean fully exposed to the bone. It was as if someone ripped his back skin apart, revealing his muscles and tendons and everything. He was immediately rushed to the Hospital Wing where Madame Pomfrey sprinkled some brick-coloured dust onto his back. The duo could see his new skin crawling up his literally bare back.

            “What happened?” Jude asked, but Tony’s face looked as if he was close to death that she decided not to press it further. She noticed the slash scars and burns on the rest of his body, which proved that he was an ex-Death Eater. Madame Pomfrey shooed them out of the Hospital Wing and continued her work in bandaging his back.

            “It looks serious,” Rach commented.

            “Serious? He looked like Fluffy just had him for a midnight snack!” Jude exclaimed.

            “Fluffy? Who’s Fluffy?” Rach looked at her surprisingly.

            “Hagrid’s Greek 3-headed dog. About this big and this tall,” Jude replied, using her arms as a measurement.

            “You gotta be kidding me!” Rach said in disbelief.

            “You can check it out if you want.”

            “As a matter of fact, I will. Take me to him.”

            When Jude took her to the prohibited third corridor and showed her Fluffy, Rach froze on the spot. The huge, giant 3-headed dog sniffed and growled at her. Jude went over to pacify him.

            “There, there, Fluffy. It’s alright. We’re here to visit. She’s a friend. That’s a sweetie pup.”

            A small rumble came out of Fluffy—a sort of dog-purr—as he rubbed his 3 heads onto Jude’s palm. Rach still remained at the same spot, quite taken aback by the humongous ferocity of the canine.

            “How did you actually make friends with this…beast?” Rach asked.

            “I, uh, sorta skipped Prof. Snape’s class a few times and during my free time, Hagrid introduced me to Fluffy.”

            “Fluffy? That’s one big irony if I would say so myself.”

            “The more vicious the animal, the nicer the name. That’s what Hagrid told me.”

            As the girls played around with Fluffy, Hagrid appeared with three large dog bowls dragging behind him on a trolley. Hagrid smiled and said, “Aye, lassies! I see ye bin friends wi’ ol’ Fluffy ‘ere, eh?”

            “Hi, Hagrid!” the girls said in unison.

            “It’s very rare to sees ol’ Fluffy ‘av any friends. He gits lonely ‘ere sometimes. He’s only got ol’ Hagrid ‘ere fer company, ye know. He’s very hostile to ‘em students.”

            “I bet,” Rach agreed. “Just look at how he sucks up on Jude.”

            “That’s because I handle dogs a lot, unlike you being obsessed with your Slipper! You oughta marry that serpent if you love him so much!” Jude replied with a grin.

            “Maybe I should, you dogface!” Rach scowled as she blushed. That was exactly what she intended to do anyway.

            “Speakin’ of snakes, is dis snakeskin belonging to yer lil’ snake, Rachel?” Hagrid asked as he held up a long snake skin he took out from his bushy coat.

            “Yes! Absolutely!” Rach exclaimed as she took a look at the snakeskin. It definitely was that earth colour her Slipper had. “Where did you get it, Hagrid?”

            “I found it on me way tuh ‘ere. I wuz cleaning de spectators’ benches at de Quidditch field when I sees this snake skin. Then ye girls suddenly appeared at de field wi’ dat golden-haired boy lyin’ on the field. Funny I didn’t sees him coz he was right der. Must be me age…”

            “Thanks, Hagrid!” Rach said as she dragged Jude back to her room at Prof. Sinistra’s domain. Jude was surprised at her sudden behaviour.

            “What is with you, Rach? If there’s something in your mind you can just say it!”

            “I’ve read stuff about your father being a Parselmouth, you know, as in having the ability to talk to snakes,” Rach said as she said the password to the wall, revealing Prof. Sinistra’s room.

            “Yeah, so?” Jude was getting confused.

            “Whatever your father had, you must have inherited some of it. You can talk to him about last night. Slipper! Slipper, where are you?”

            “Why would I want to talk to your snake?” Jude wrinkled her nose.

            “Try to recall. Hagrid said that he found Slipper’s skin at the Quidditch field—Slipper, come here—so he must have been there last night for some reason!” Rach stooped to pick up the python. “He must’ve seen something last night. He might know who kidnapped Becka!”

            “By gosh, you’re right!” Jude said as she took Slipper and put him around her neck. “OK, I just learnt how to do this—Harry taught me—let’s see how it works.”

            Jude started to hiss and slur at Slipper, talking to him in Parseltongue. When they finished their conversation, Jude’s face became dark and her eyes were screaming murder.

            “So…what did he say?” Rach asked.

            Jude didn’t reply. She got up abruptly and ran out of the room. Rach didn’t have time to ask questions. The only thing she could do was follow Jude from behind.

                                                                        *

            Tony was quite taken aback when he saw Jude storming into the Hospital Wing. He somehow knew that his secret was discovered. He was ready for it. He had been waiting for this moment a long time.

            “How could you do this? How could you be in alliance with Voldemort and help him kidnap Becka?! You’re a Death Eater all along!!” Jude’s eyes blazed green with fury. Harry, who was visiting Tony, was taken by surprise.

            Tony grinned and showed his Death Eater mark on his wrist to her, “That’s right, Judith. I _am_ in alliance with the Dark Lord. I was chosen by the Dark Lord to keep an eye on you Witches for years now! I’m not an ex-Death Eater. I never left the Dark Lord. I’m a Muggle-born, born and bred at your birthplace in Asia after my parents migrated there from Scotland. I have been watching you girls ever since you have developed your powers, Judith. Did you know how long that is?”

            Jude slapped Tony real hard, squarely on his cheek, until the corner of his lips bled. Madame Pomfrey slowly inched her way out of the Hospital Wing to report this to Prof. Dumbledore. Tony licked the blood off his lips and said, “You’ll have to do better than that, Judith. The Dark Lord is best at torturing people. This is child’s play.”

            “How could you?! How dare you?! I trusted you!! You’re…You’re my best friend!”

            “Friend?” Tony laughed bitterly. “That is a foolish movement. Emotions are always weaknesses of man. Nevertheless my love for you, Judith, is true. Well, it used to be.”

            “Bull! If you love Jude so much, you wouldn’t be doing this! Betraying her, betraying us, betraying Hogwarts! Entering here as a spy! You got some nerve!” Rach snarled, her eyes also beginning to glow blue.

            “Do you think I would be stupid enough to fall in love with an archenemy? Well, unfortunately, I have become a temporary fool, but not anymore!” Tony replied with a smirk.

            “Why are you doing this, Tony? Jude is your friend!” Harry said as he moved towards Rach’s side.

            “You call someone who killed your parents a _friend_?! Get real, Harry, you hated the Dark Lord down to the bone for killing your parents! You should know how I feel!!”

            “I don’t know your parents,” Jude replied. “I didn’t kill anybody.”

            “Oh, you didn’t!” Tony waved his hands sarcastically. “What do you call killing off a whole bunch of innocent people in the playground? I was there, Judith. I saw you going all freaky and you murdered _my parents_ right in front of _my eyes_!! You killed without mercy, damn it! If it weren’t for Lucius Malfoy, I would’ve become your victim too!!!”

            “Lucius Malfoy?!” Harry exclaimed. “Draco’s father?! He’s still with Voldemort? That dirty rat…”

            “The Dark Lord took me in. He trained me to be cold and heartless and to show no mercy. He gave me the assignment to watch over you, to spy on you for many long years. The year you got your letters from Hogwarts, I reported it to Voldemort straightaway. Lucius helped me enroll into Hogwarts. He had been a good help. The Dark Lord borrowed my body so that he could pitch into Hogwarts to get a closer look at our dear Witches.”

            “The same way he did with Prof. Quirrell!” Harry exclaimed again.

            “Exactly. Finally when I came to you face to face at the Hogwarts Express, I swear I wanted to kill you there and then. But you saved me from choking, and I found myself being a fool and fell in love with you. I hoped that once you’re on my side, the Dark Lord would spare your life and make you into a potential Death Eater. But no, you have disappointed me. The Dark Lord was right; emotions are foolish things! You broke my heart and I wanted you to pay! That’s why I sort of ‘swept you off your feet’ that night you rejected my confession. I was hoping you would break your neck, but the Dark Lord actually turned you into inferno.”

            “So it was you who constantly send her on fire!” Rach growled in contempt.

            “Not me, it was the Dark Lord. He could be murderous sometimes,” Tony grinned evilly.

            “You never loved me! You only wanted my body, not my heart! You’re just like Voldemort!” Jude shouted at him, only to be replied by Tony’s evil laugh.

            “What about Becka? Why did Voldemort want her?” Harry asked.

            “Do you remember Cedric?”

            “What about him? He’s already dead last year.”

            “On the contrary, Harry, he is very much alive. The Dark Lord brought him back to life and he has now become one of us. It seems that he had his hicks with Rebecca. The Dark Lord wants to keep her until she gives birth to your child and then kill it in front of her eyes before killing her too! Cedric hates you, if you want to know. He practically blamed you for dragging him into the mess with Voldemort last year and got himself killed!”

            “It was…It was an accident! None of us wanted to be there more than Voldemort wanted us to!” Harry replied.

            “Unfortunately, Cedric doesn’t feel this way. The Dark Lord is not taking any chances of letting the prophecy come true. After he has killed Rebecca, he’ll be after you!”

            Without warning, he pointed his wand at the girls and Harry. He smirked and said, “The Dark Lord said that I’m on my own now, so that means he has given me the chance to fulfill my revenge on Judith. And if I get to kill Rachel and Harry in the process, he might make me his trusted right-hand man. I’ll be able to kick off Pettigrew from his stand! Oh, by the way, Judith my sweet, thanks for the memories.”

            They couldn’t think of any plan. If they were to reach out for their wands, they would be killed for sure. Yet if they don’t do anything, they’ll be killed for sure anyway. Tony laughed wickedly and started chanting, “Avada…”

            “Expelliarmus!!”

            The girls and Harry turned around. Prof. Snape has used the disarming spell just in time. Tony was flung backward and hit his head on the bed, knocking him unconscious. Prof. Lupin rushed over to take him out of the ward. Prof. Dumbledore sighed and said, “Remus, put this child under dorm arrest. The Ministry will deal with him later once I’ve contacted them. Place him in the towers at the West Wing.”

            The kids sighed with relief as they gathered themselves together within the grown-ups. Jude felt herself being dragged close to Prof. Snape’s chest with one of his arm and was asked, “Are you alright?”

            “Uh, yeah, I’m OK. No bones broken or anything,” Jude replied, blushing a little.

            “Good,” Prof. Snape replied before letting her go abruptly and walking away.

            Jude didn’t know whether to be happy or sad at Prof. Snape’s sudden attitude.


	19. The Birth of a New Heir

            Jude and Rach just finished their dinner at the Great Hall. Harry also finished his and he braved himself to walk towards Jude’s table. Draco looked at him in annoyance.

            “What are you doing here, Potter? This is the Slytherin’s table, you’re not supposed to be here!”

            “I’m just here to discuss about _certain_ things, if you know what I mean,” Harry replied as he took Jude’s arm. “Come, Jude. I need to ask you something.”

           Draco was about to protest when Jude laid her hand on his arm, her eyes gazing at him, giving him a Let-me-go look. Draco resisted for a while before he sighed and let her go. Somehow he couldn’t resist Jude’s temptation. Jude was taken to his table. Rach was also sitting there.

            “What is it you want to ask?” Jude asked Harry as soon as she sat down.

            “Have you both felt anything yet?” Harry got straight to the point.

            “Felt what?” Jude and Rach asked in unison.

           “You know…anything wrong? Any pain? Any contraction or…” Harry tried to make it less obvious for other people.

            “Oh, you mean _that_ thing,” Jude began to comprehend. “No, I don’t feel anything yet.”

            “Neither do I. Why do you ask?” Rach replied.

            “Nothing. It’s just that you three were pregnant at the same time, so…if you were to feel anything, that means Becka also might feel something,” Harry replied worriedly.

            “You mean if the time has come, Becka would have to give birth at that idiotic Voldemort’s domain?!” Jude lowered her voice when she mentioned the name ‘Voldemort’.

            “I’m afraid so,” Harry nodded. “Tony did say about Cedric having hicks for Becka. I hope he won’t be cruel enough to kill her. Hopefully she’ll be in good hands with him.”

                                                                        *

            Becka was sitting alone in a dim room with only a few candles to light the place. She couldn’t believe that Tony was actually the spy for Voldemort. She even found it hard to believe that Cedric was a Death Eater for Voldemort and made her into one of them. Becka glared at the mark on her hand and let out a huff in contempt.

            The door of her room was unlocked. She turned around and saw that it was Cedric carrying a tray of food inside. She growled, “What are you doing here?”

            “I just came to get you dinner,” Cedric replied as he put the tray on the table. He came near Becka and tried to hold her in his arms but Becka resisted.

            “Go away. I hate you. You betrayed me.”

            “Rebecca, I don’t like this more than you do, but this is the Dark Lord’s orders.”

            “Oh, and I suppose you followed his orders like a dog because you’re grateful that he brought you back to life. That’s typical!”

            Ignoring Becka’s resistance, he hugged her close to his chest and whispered, “Don’t be angry with me, Rebecca. The person you should hate is Harry. He got you into this.”

            Becka pushed him harshly away, “How could you?! He didn’t do anything to hurt me!! You yourself didn’t mind when he made me pregnant! I did it by my own free will! I have no reason to hate him!!”

            “Maybe you don’t, but I have,” Cedric’s silver eyes gleamed in contempt.

            “What…?”

            “If it weren’t for him, I would’ve been alive! It’s because he’s The Boy Who Lived, he was often the target of the Dark Lord. Yes, the Dark Lord had killed me, but if Harry hadn’t existed, if only he had just died when the Dark Lord tried to kill him, all this problem would’ve just went away! I would’ve lived until now and have a normal life! It’s all Harry’s fault I was killed!!”

            “If Harry hadn’t existed,” Becka said, moving further away from him, “you would’ve died all the same, along with the rest of the wizarding world. There wouldn’t even be a Hogwarts anymore.”

            Cedric glared venomously at Becka and hissed, “Well, that’s not my problem now, isn’t it? Maybe it would’ve been better that way. My misery wouldn’t be so great like now!”

            So saying, he stomped out of the room and locked the door. Becka rushed to the door and tugged at the door handle. No avail. It was locked from the outside and it was immune to the Alohomora spell. She looked at the food on the tray. It smelt really nice. She wanted to ignore it, but her pregnant situation wouldn’t allow it. She had to eat. She had a baby to feed.

                                                                        *

            Jude carried the tray of food all the way to the towers of the West Wing. She saw one of the house elves carrying the tray and asked him where he was taking it. When he said it was for Tony up at the West Wing, she took the tray and lied to the elf saying that there has been a change of orders.

            As she reached the West Wing, she used her power to detect Tony’s aura and find which room he was. She saw a flash of the image of the Death Eater’s mark when she touched one part of the wall and opened the latch of the door. She felt a minor flash field going through her body when she came into the room, as if it was meant for people to go in and out except Death Eaters like Tony. Tony looked up and was surprised to see her.

            “What are you doing here, Judith? Where’s the elf that usually send my meals?”

            “A change of plans. Besides, I want to check out to see if you’re OK,” Jude said as she laid the tray of food on a table that had seen better days. “You’re still my friend.”

            “Friend,” Tony snorted. “Yeah, right. You’re just here to gloat at my pathetic situation right now.”

            “No, I’m not.” Jude replied indignantly as she went close to Tony. “I really am here to see if you’re OK. Hmm, at least you’re just dirty. No bruises and all.”

            “Why are you doing this?” Tony glared at Jude with hate.

            “Like I said, you’re my friend. You look weak. Did you even eat? Let me feed you…”

            Tony pushed her away and yelled, “I don’t need your pity! Get out of here and leave me alone!!”

            Jude was unperturbed. She walked over to the table and got the plate of pumpkin pie. She forked a small piece and fed it to Tony. Tony slapped the fork away, growling like an angry dog. Again, Jude slapped him, but much lighter this time. And before Tony could do anything harsh on her, Jude planted a kiss on his forehead, stopping him in his tracks.

            “I may have rejected you, but I still have enough friendly feelings towards you to do this. Now, will you be a good boy and eat?”

            Tony finally gave in and nodded. He couldn’t lie to himself. No matter how angry he was to her and how much hate he felt for her, his heart still had a small inkling of love for her. He didn’t protest when Jude offered to feed him. Somehow he felt blissful all over again, just like during the first time he fell in love with her.

            Suddenly Jude stopped feeding him. She dropped the fork she was holding and clutched her chest in pain. Tony came to her and asked, “What happened? Are you alright?”

            “I…I don’t know…I think I have some sort of…heartburn…” Jude groaned.

            Tony laid his hand on her chest and said, “Judith, I think it’s time.”

                                                                        *

            Rach was in the Hospital Wing, her hands tied onto the bed railings. She was tossing and turning, groaning in pain. She felt the heartburn when she was studying in Prof. Sinistra’s room and Prof. Sinistra rushed her immediately to Madame Pomfrey.

            “Where is Judith? She should be experiencing the same thing by now!” Madame Pomfrey exclaimed. “Don’t tell me Severus is trying to do this on his own!”

            “What is it?” Prof. Snape asked when he entered the Hospital Wing after hearing the news. “What about me?”

            “Isn’t Judith with you?” Madame Pomfrey asked.

            “No, Light is not with me. I thought she was with Yearne all the time.”

            “She’s…not with me…” Rach protested. “She’s already…gone somewhere…after dinner…I haven’t…seen her since!”

            “Did she say where she was going?” Prof. Snape asked.

            “She…said something…about meeting…someone…I don’t know who…OW! Damn it, it hurts!”

            “That fool!” Prof. Snape hissed as he quickly left the ward. Madame Pomfrey quickly attended to Rach.

            “Alright, Rachel. It’s going to be alright. We’ll just have to start without her.”

                                                                        *

            “Take it easy, Rebecca. I’m right here,” Cedric coaxed Becka as he tried to hold the struggling Becka in his arms.

            “Go away! I don’t need your help! Oww~!” Becka whined in pain.

            “It’s alright, Rebecca. I’m here. Just hang in there…”

            “I hate you, damn it, I HATE YOU!!”

            “Shh~~ Everything is going to be fine,” Cedric hushed her and rocked her to and fro.

            “It hurts, Cedric…It hurts…” Becka finally burst into tears as she clutched Cedric’s robes tight.

                                                                        *

            “Oh shit! OH SHIT!! I’m gonna die~~!!”

            “No, Judith, you’re not going to die. Just hang in there and don’t move too much!”

            Jude was lying on Tony’s thighs and Tony was holding her down as hard as possible to keep her from tossing and turning too much. Jude felt as if there were thousands upon thousands of sharp knives cutting her inside her body. She started crying and whining like a child who lost her mother.

            “Shh…It’s going to be alright. Just hang in there and try not to move.”

            Jude grasped Tony’s wrist tightly and sobbed. She never felt so much pain before in her life. It was excruciating, like she was undergoing a slow, painful death, like a surgery without anesthesia. Tony continued to hush her and coax her, ensuring that everything would be fine. Slowly she felt her abdomen getting warmer and warmer until it actually felt like burning fire. She opened her sodden eyes and saw her abdomen glowing like an inferno. It glowed a very bright green, like a green fluorescent light. The heat began to increase until Jude couldn’t stand it anymore. She let out a bloodcurdling scream that filled the whole tower. Tony quickly tore part of his sleeve and stuffed it into her mouth, gagging her and muffling her voice. He didn’t want to risk people coming up.

            Jude continued to scream and tossed her head like a mad dog. She wanted to toss and turn to get rid of the pain that was killing her but Tony held her down. No matter how she struggled, Tony was much stronger. Her abdomen glowed even brighter, lighting up the whole tower. It was even brighter than any light bulb can ever make. The pain gradually subsided but the glow still remained.

            “Give it a push, Judith. Just give it a little push,” Tony whispered to her ear. Jude did as she was told. She held Tony’s wrist hard and pushed. The pain finally lifted itself from her body and the glow subsided.

            When she opened her eyes, the tower was dim once more. In the glow’s place was a small baby, wailing as the air entered its lungs. Jude wept happy tears as she took the baby who was lying on her stomach close to her chest.

            “Oh my God, Tony, I…I have a son…! I have a baby boy…!” Jude exclaimed weakly.

            “Thank Merlin you’re alright,” Tony sighed in relief and kissed her forehead. “He’s beautiful…”

            “Light?!” Prof. Snape burst into the room in the nick of time. He saw Jude lying on Tony’s thighs with the baby in her arms and quickly picked her up in his arms. He glared venomously at Tony and hissed, “I warned you that if you ever lay a finger on her, it’ll be the death of you!”

            “Prof. Snape, no! He helped me with the baby! He didn’t do anything harsh. I came up here by myself,” Jude defended Tony.

            “You know perfectly well that you’re not supposed to be here, Light! You have been a fool long enough!” Prof. Snape snapped at her.

            “I’m sorry…”

            “Come away, and I do not want to see you coming up here again,” Prof. Snape carried her out of the room and latched the door with a spell, leaving Tony all alone in there.

            “Yes, sir.”

                                                                        *

            Rach gave it a push like Madame Pomfrey instructed. Her efforts were answered with a loud wailing of a baby. The pain and the blue glowing finally came to a stop. Madame Pomfrey smiled and said, “Congratulations, Rachel, you have a healthy baby boy.”

            “Damn. I’m actually a mother now,” Rach smiled weakly, gasping for breath. Her voice was quite rash after shouting in pain quite a long time.

            “Yes, you are, Rachel. Your son would like some milk now, if you may.”

            Rach blushed as she turned to one side. She pulled her shirt up and let the baby feed on her. Rach asked in surprise, “I’m not really pregnant as in physically. I didn’t expect to have any milk.”

            “Oh, but you do,” Madame Pomfrey replied. “That’s the only thing physical that has changed in you ever since you have this baby. You’ll just have to live with it. Ah, there’s your friend now.”

            Rach turned to see Prof. Snape coming in with Jude and the baby in his arms. He laid her on the bed beside Rach’s and Madame Pomfrey checked her and the baby thoroughly. The duo asked each other about the sex of their baby and they were surprised to find out that both their babies were boys.

            “Time to have the baby weaned now,” Madame Pomfrey said. Jude blushed and waited until Prof. Snape has left the ward before unbuttoning her shirt to feed her son.

            “I really, really hope that Becka is in good hands with Cedric,” Rach said as she fed her son.

            Jude couldn’t agree more.

                                                                        *

            Becka opened her eyes. She must have passed out due to fatigue. The pain was gone. And she remembered a very bright red glow and her pushing before she lost consciousness. She tried to sit up but she felt herself being pushed back down to bed.

            “Don’t move, Rebecca. You’re still tired.”

            It was Cedric’s voice. He sounded kinder than he was when he snarled at her the last time. Just like the old Cedric she used to know. She lay back in bed.

            “What…What happened to me…?” Becka breathed out her words.

            “You just gave birth, remember? You just gave birth to Harry’s child.”

            “Is it…Is it a boy or a…?”

            Cedric came to her with a bundle in his arms, “It’s a girl. You have a baby girl.”

            “Oh my God…” Becka burst into happy tears as she held the little baby in her arms. Although the room was dim, she could still make out the features: she had Harry’s eyes and her beautiful maroon hair.

            “What are you going to name her?” Cedric asked.

            “Henrietta. Henrietta Gryffindor-Potter,” Becka replied after a momentary thought. Cedric leaned over and kissed Becka’s forehead.

            “Good work, Rebecca. You did a great job.”

            Becka turned around, ignoring Cedric and tending to her baby. Cedric turned her back to face him.

            “My love for you is still true. I still love you and I always will.”

            So saying, he laid his lips on Becka and kissed her deeply. Surprisingly, Becka didn’t attempt to fight him away.


	20. Discussions and Suggestions

            For the next few weeks, Jude and Rach stayed in the Hospital Wing tending to their baby. Harry did the honours to give the babies their names. He named Jude’s baby Kiaran Slytherin-Potter and Rach’s baby Talos Ravenclaw-Potter. The gang, namely Ron, Hermione, Darren and Angelica came to visit them occasionally. Draco also had his share of visiting.

            After their few weeks’ rest, they moved back to their teachers’ room. Jude was glad to be back in Prof. Snape’s domain. She had taken out a bottle of Carlsberg (which she secretly sent an owl to her Muggle bartender cousin to get some) from her luggage bag, waved her wand at them to make them cold and swallowed a few gulps of the bitterish alcohol. She belched in satisfaction.

            “Ahh~ The feeling of being able to burp out after a good swig, now that’s life!”

            “Light, what are you drinking?” Prof. Snape entered the room. He was quite surprised to see her having Kiaran in one hand and a bottle in another.

            “Carlsberg. Muggle beer. Wanna try one, sir?” Jude asked, handing a bottle to him. Prof. Snape snatched both of the bottles away from her hand.

            “You know you are not supposed to drink alcoholic beverages! Your baby hasn’t even finished weaning yet!”

            “Come on, sir. Just a swig! It won’t hurt anybody now, would it?”

            “The answer is still no,” Prof. Snape said indignantly. “As long as you are still under-aged and still breast-feeding your child, you are not entitled to drink this.”

            “Well, I hate to see them go to waste now, wouldn’t I, sir?” Jude looked up at him with those puppy eyes.

            Prof. Snape stared at the bottle he was holding and finally took a swig out of it. He almost choked after drinking about a mouthful of it and his sallow cheeks actually went red immediately. He wanted to ask what was in the drink but Jude answer for him.

            “42% alcohol made by the finest, purest grains available. Cool, huh?”

            Prof. Snape sat on the floor abruptly. Jude found it hard to believe that a grown-up like him couldn’t take alcohol like her. To think that she would only feel a little woozy after about 4 bottles of beer and that she was about 22 years younger than Prof. Snape, yet he got woozy only by one swig.

            “Are you alright, sir?” Jude asked. “Need any help?”

            “I am perfectly alright,” Prof. Snape said indignantly. “And for your information, Headmaster Dumbledore has orders to let you, Yearne and Potter go with some of us on a mission to save Levi.”

            “Save Becka? You mean as in come in battle with _Voldemort_?!” Jude exclaimed.

            “You know exactly what I mean,” Prof. Snape took another swig of the beer and hacked in the process.

            “But-But-But…we can’t battle with Voldemort now, can we? I mean our job is to have these kids, not fight with Voldemort…”

            “Why do you say that? Are you afraid of facing your father?” Prof. Snape suddenly had his face near Jude. His breath smelt of Carlsberg. He was beginning to go drunk.

            “Well…no, but…”

            “You think your task is just to have Potter’s child? You thought wrong, Light. Your task is more than that!” Prof. Snape practically began to drain the beer before he continued, “You have to protect his heir, keep them safe until the day comes when they are ready to kill the Dark Lord. You have to be by Potter’s side in order to battle against him. You are his so-called Soldiers of Fortune, Sidekicks, Warriors, whatever!”

            “I didn’t know that…” Jude said hesitantly, trying to keep her face away from his alcoholic breath.

            “Now you do know! You girls and that wretched Potter have everything way too easy, yet I have to suffer the most. We all have to suffer because of your existence! Do you know how much I detest you?!”

            “Um…sir, I think you’re drunk,” Jude pushed him away. “I think you should go to bed…”

            Prof. Snape pulled up his robe sleeve and showed her the Death Eater mark on his wrist, “I want to be rid of this mark! I want to be free from the Dark Lord’s grasp! As long as your father’s alive, I will never be free! This mark will stay on my hand and I will be marked as a Death Eater for life! I want to be free from his tyranny! I want to live a normal life, teaching you dunderheads all I can offer! My life is nothing with this hideous mark on me, you understand that?”

            “Yes, sir, I get the point…Please, your breath stinks,” Jude tried to push him further away but Prof. Snape continued to advanced towards her.

            “I want to be free. I want to be rid of this cursed mark. I want you…”

            Prof. Snape’s lips were closing in towards her own. Jude blushed. Was he actually going to kiss her on his own intentions? Was he, drunk as he was, going to share tonight with her? Jude closed her eyes, waiting for him to claim her lips…

            A few moments later, she felt a sudden weight on her knees. She opened her eyes and was disappointed to see that Prof. Snape actually fell asleep on her knees. Looks like she didn’t get her wish that easily after all. She sighed, finished what was left of the Carlsberg bottle he just drank and dragged him back to his bed.

            After finished feeding her baby Kiaran, she, too, sneaked up beside Prof. Snape on his bed and slept.

                                                                        *

            “You have just got to be kidding me! You, Jude and Rach are actually going to go out there and fight that You-Know-Who?!” Ron exclaimed in horror. “You’re saying that you guys are going out on a suicide mission!”

            “Come on, Ron. We are not going to go there on our own,” Harry chuckled. “Prof. Lupin and Sirius will be there. And, sadly, Prof. Snape too.”

            “Wow, that tongue-lashing, cynical teacher is also going?” Angelica said in exaggerated trepidation. “Now that’s a bad call for you, Harry.”

            “Jude can’t just go! What about the baby? Who’ll take care of the little Kiaran?” Ron was still unsure.

            “If you want, you can take care of him for us,” Harry replied.

            “You sure?” Ron was all smiles. Harry nodded.

            “Oh, oh, can I take care of Talos?” Angelica asked hurriedly.

            “Be my guest.”

            “I am so glad! I can take care of Jude’s child!” Ron said with glee. “I may not have Jude’s heart, but I still have her kid close to me! I just hope that Becka is _really_ OK out there.”

            “Do you have any idea that hanging endlessly on unrequited love is a total waste of time?” Hermione suddenly voiced out after being silent for sometime before walking away to the girls’ dorm. The others were quite surprised at her sudden attitude.

           “What’s her problem?” Ron asked. Everyone shrugged. Neville, who was listening to their conversation all this while, said his opinion timidly.

            “Maybe she’s been jealous all along since your obsession with the Dark and the Black Witch.”

            “Are you saying that…Mione has a…a crush on…?” Ron started to blush.

            “I’m just suggesting. It’s quite obvious, you know,” Neville replied before turning back to his Herbology text book.

            Ron slowly got up and walked towards where Hermione just went. He saw Hermione sitting on her bed reading a book she borrowed from the library. He walked towards her bed and sat down beside her, asking, “Hey, Mione, you OK?”

            Hermione didn’t answer, but she put down her book and glared at him with a pair of sodden red eyes. Ron gasped slightly. He was surprised. It was very seldom to see Hermione actually cry.

            “Mione, are you crying?”

            “No,” Hermione replied indignantly, brushing the tears off her eyes.

            “Yes, you are. Tell me what’s wrong. Is it something to do with me?”

            Hermione’s eyes started to well up again before saying, “Did you know that I…I have a liking towards you ever since we first met? You are so oblivious to everything that you don’t even notice my existence! I tried many ways to make you at least like me but you just treated me like some kind of smarty-pants!”

            “Well, you have always given me the impression of a smart-alec…” Ron replied but was cut short by Hermione’s slap on the shoulder.

            “Then why did you think I let myself be seduced by Victor Krumm? Why did you think I was terribly attracted to Gilderoy Lockhart? I wanted to get your attention! I wanted you to be jealous! I wanted you to notice me! Guess it only lasted for a temporary moment! And why do you think I was angry when you said that you have a crush on that Rach and Jude? You are so blind!”

            “You…You did it all…for me?” Ron couldn’t help being touched and so foolish. All this while she was trying to make him notice her and yet he blew it all away by some fruitless obsession to a girl—two, in fact—that has her heart for someone else. He came near towards Hermione and hugged her from behind.

            “Go away, leave me alone. Go to your dear Witches!” Hermione tried to shake him away. “You don’t care about me. You never will be!”

            “I’m sorry, Mione, I’m so sorry. I promise I will never ignore you again. We can start over again,” Ron whispered to Hermione’s ear. Hermione burst into tears even more as she hugged Ron back.

            Meanwhile, Harry was still discussing about his soon-encounter with Voldemort. Angelica asked, “Don’t feel nervous about the coming battle? That recent attack at the Quidditch field was really pretty scary, you know. Jude actually survived the lightning blow. That’s creepy!”

            “The creepier thing is that Cedric is actually alive!” Neville said, not looking up from his book. “He was supposed to be dead, yet he was brought back to life by that You-Know-Who! I wonder what his girlfriend Cho Chang would think.”

            “Come on! Cho Chang would be horrified!” Angelica replied. “Besides, that Tony did say that he and Becka are already an item, she wouldn’t want to go back to him now, would she?”

            Harry remained silent at this point. It wasn’t easy but, after Cedric’s death, he tried to help Cho Chang to cope with her feelings as much as he could. He had no intentions to seize the opportunity to make Cho Chang like him back, but somehow, their chemistry has sort of clicked together and they were pretty much in a girlfriend-boyfriend term. As Harry said, words spread fast in Hogwarts, yet when Cho Chang found out from the word of Tony’s story about Cedric being alive and having the hicks for Becka, she didn’t react the way Harry was afraid she would.

            “You’re going to go out to a death-defying battle,” Angelica brought Harry back to reality, “and you’re not going to spend some time with your girlfriend? Go and talk to Cho Chang! Come on!”

            Without another thought, Harry got up quickly and walked out of the common room.

                                                                        *

            Rach sat on her sofa bed, stroking Slipper with one hand and holding Talos with another, feeding him. She still felt a little bit awkward about having to open her blouse and exposing her breast to the baby but she had to do it—after all, he was her own flesh and blood, as in spiritually.

            “I can’t believe it, Slipper. I’m 14 years old, a 2nd year in Hogwarts, and yet I’m actually becoming a mother all of a sudden. Too much too soon, you know! I don’t know if I can handle this! And to top it all up, I’m going to go out on a mission with Jude to save Becka. Who will take care of Talos for me?”

            Slipper wound himself around Rach’s waist, giving her an encouraging squeeze.

            “You’re right. I guess I’ll have to count on Madame Pomfrey to baby-sit Talos for me, or get Darren to help me do it! Oh, I just love making a slave out of everyone. I’m not too nervous about this mission—I’m pretty ready—but I’m suddenly becoming a worried wart over Talos here.”

            Slipper slithered round and round Rach’s waist playfully.

            “You think it’s what they call ‘motherly instincts’? Man, I haven’t even get to experience a mid-life crisis yet!”

            Slipper hissed, making a sound like a snake-laugh or some sort.

            “You will help me check Talos too now, won’t you?”

            Slipper cocked his head, letting it touch her arm, meaning, “Yeah, sure.”

            “I know I can always count on you,” Rach said as she kissed Slipper’s scaly forehead. “I love you, Slipper.”

            Slipper hissed back, licking her cheek with his tongue in his way of kissing her.


	21. Off to Save the Dark Witch

            Everyone gathered at the field: Jude, Rach, Prof. Snape, Prof. Lupin, Sirius Black and Harry. They made sure that they had eaten their fill before they met for today—they weren’t sure whether they will make it out alive. Everyone had their brooms ready for this occasion.

            “Ready, Witches?” Prof. Snape asked.

            “Just a second, sir,” Jude said as she dug through her robe sleeve and revealed a baby ankle lace made out of stars and moons. She handed it to Rach, who in turn squealed in delight.

            “This is so beautiful! Are you actually letting my Talos have it?” Rach said as she marveled at the lace. “You should save it for your Kiaran!”

           “Oh, never mind. My Kiaran already has my baby ankle lace, the one with bells and hearts. I got this a long time ago, and when I knew that we’re going to have kids, I owled to my Muggle parents to get it out of my jewelry box back home.”

            “It’s gorgeous! Where did you get it?”

            “It’s simple, really. My Muggle cousin who has a brother that has a crush on a girl next door whose boyfriend is in the swim team and has a nephew who had a 5-year-old sister who got a favourite teacher who is actually the big brother of my 19-year-old uncle whom I had an itsy-bitsy crush on. Well, he gave that to me as a birthday gift and I’ve been keeping it ever since. He still thinks I’m his little baby niece, can you imagine that?”

            “I can see how complicated your family tree is,” Rach replied with a sweat drop.

            “Are we ready yet?” Prof. Snape cleared his throat irritably, getting the girls’ attention. The girls nodded sheepishly.

            “How would you know how to find the Dark Witch, Severus?” Prof. Lupin asked.

            “By the mark,” Prof. Snape showed his Death Eater mark. “When it glows like this means that we have to gather together on a meeting. If we follow it to where the location is, we may get to see Voldemort.”

            “Great! Now I can kick both Voldemort and that wretched Pettigrew’s ass!” Sirius rubbed his hands with glee. He had been waiting this moment for too long to back away now.

            “Black, I don’t remember asking you to join us. But if you insist on sending yourself to suicide, I won’t stop you.”

            “No way am I going to miss a good fight with that Voldemort and let you have all the fun!” Sirius snarled like a dog at Prof. Snape. “You just watch out if you don’t want to be killed by your so-called ‘Dark Lord’!”

            “Alright, alright, guys, stop bickering already,” Prof. Lupin said, the girls giggling and Harry sighing in the back ground. “We have a girl and a baby to save, remember?”

            So, without further ado, our heroes mounted their brooms and flew high into the sky and out of the protective boundary of Hogwarts Castle.

                                                                                    *

            The group found themselves in a very dark and sinister-looking graveyard. Jude shivered and huddled behind Harry; she still didn’t like the dark although there are a lot of companions among her. Bad experience when she was a kid made her pretty phobic towards the dark.

            Prof. Snape signaled everyone to hide in one corner while he waited outside and blend in with the rest of the Death Eaters, pulling the hood over his head. One by one, the Death Eaters apparated in sight. Jude saw Lucius Malfoy, who was unhooding himself, among the Death Eaters. Altogether there about 10 Death Eaters present.  

            “Damn! Even Crabbe and Goyle’s old men are there!” Sirius hissed in contempt. They were hiding behind the tallest, widest tree they could find. Prof. Lupin hushed him.

            “Keep it down! You don’t want to blow our cover now, do you?”

            No sooner he said that, than a tall, menacing figure apparated into view. It was no other than the Dark Lord Voldemort himself. Sirius growled deeply in his throat at the sight of him. Jude was awed. This was the first time she caught sight of her real father. He was obviously very evil indeed: with his eyes as red and as treacherous as a serpent (more like a Basilisk, maybe) and his not-so-human face. He had very lack of hair and his skin was quite scaly. He looked more like a mutant snake than a wizard. Jude found it hard to believe that she came from this bad seed.

            Voldemort towered over his minions proudly with Pettigrew by his side and revealed Becka and her baby Henrietta in her arms from his huge robe. Jude wanted to rush up to her and save her immediately but was held back by the others just in time before any of the Death Eaters saw them.

            “My faithful servants, I am glad that you are all present,” Voldemort’s hissing menacing voice sent shivers to anyone who heard it. “Here I have before you The One that was prophesied to bring down our little organization: The Dark Witch and her heir, the seed from which came from The Boy Who Lived!”

            The Death Eaters muttered disapprovingly at Becka and her baby. Becka cowered towards Cedric, who was standing right behind her. Cedric wrapped his hands around her, consoling her through her ear softly. Harry had a good look and was as shocked as the grown-ups to see Cedric alive, with a completely different eye colour than the last time he seen him.

            “Oh Merlin, Cedric’s alive! He’s actually alive!” Harry tried to suppress his excited voice.

            “You’re damn right!” Sirius replied. “That old git actually excelled in magic, that I got to admit.”

            “What are we gonna do?” Rach asked in panic. “If we don’t go out there now, that creep is going to turn Becka and her baby into barbecue sauce! Or toads, if he’s kind enough.”

            “Severus will give us the signal,” Prof. Lupin replied. “Don’t worry, girls, he knows what he’s doing.”

            “Yeah, right. If he doesn’t pitch in on us!” Sirius said grudgingly. “You can never trust an ex-Death Eater like him.”

            “My faithful servants, it is now time to do what is necessary to do in order to keep our group alive,” Voldemort announced as he took a dagger that was handed to him automatically by Pettigrew. “I have a spy working for me in the grounds of Hogwarts. He proved to be worthy and faithful, but unfortunately he hadn’t had the guts to kill my daughter and her child, my _grandson_ ,” he spat that word out, “so to speak. He failed when he had the chance. Now we would like to see if any of you have the guts to cast the first blow. Severus,” he handed the dagger to Prof. Snape, “would you do the honours?”

            Prof. Snape took the dagger and advanced towards Becka who was cowering in Cedric’s arms. ‘Why did he specifically choose me?’ he thought. ‘I may be his most favoured follower in the past but…this was going too easy…’ As he raised his dagger high above his head and was ready to strike, he became hesitant. Should he continue and really stab her so that Voldemort would continue to trust him and that he would be able to continue becoming both Dumbledore and Voldemort’s spy? Or could he just cut Becka a little bit so that Jude will not be angry and blame him, or even end up killing him? He didn’t know what to do. He just kept his dagger raised above his head.

            “Why are you hesitant, Severus?” Voldemort’s voice hit him icily on his ear and through his thumping heart. “Are you afraid that you will hurt your pretty Black Witch’s heart?”

            So saying, he swished his wand towards the tree the gang was hiding and zapped it, burning it into dust in an instant. The gang gasped in horror that their cover was revealed. They brandished their wands, ready to fight. Voldemort chuckled deep in his throat.

            “I knew all along that you people are behind there! You think I wouldn’t come here unprepared now, do I? Death Eaters, my faithful servants! Get them! Bring the Witches to me, alive!”             

            Soon, there was a lot of zapping and swishing of wands and struggling between them as the grown-ups, and a little help from the kids, try to get at the Death Eaters’ throats. Harry, Jude and Rach made a dash towards Voldemort. Voldemort smirked and hissed at his two henchmen, “Get them, my servants. Destroy them!”

            “With pleasure, My Lord,” Cedric and Pettigrew said in unison. Cedric brandished his wand at Harry while Pettigrew swished his sliver hand at Jude and Rach. They were horrified as they found out that everything Pettigrew touched with his silver right hand turned to dust in an instant.

            “This is not good, Rach!” Jude exclaimed as she ducked away from Pettigrew’s incoming hand.

            “Obviously not!” Rach replied with a ‘Duh’ tone.

            “Any ideas, genius?”

            “Not this time around, man!”

            “So are we gonna attack him the old-fashion way or the new way?”

            “Definitely a little bit of both!”

            Jude and Rach used their wands and used the levitation spell to levitate him in the air, and then used their wandless powers to knock the shit out of him. They ran over to help Harry battle Cedric. Sparks and fireworks rained around them and sounds of zapping and voices of spells chanted filled the entire graveyard. It really was like war: Hogwarts vs Voldemort.

            “Hey, Cedric, stop fighting against us!” Harry exclaimed as he dodged a disarming spell. “You don’t want to do this! You don’t want to hurt Becka!”

            “I’ve waited too long for this moment to destroy you!” Cedric snarled, his silver eyes gleaming with hate. “I died because of you, and I had to be what I wouldn’t want to be—a Death Eater—because of you! I hate you enough to _kill_ you!”

            “That’s one grudge you don’t see everyday,” Jude muttered as she aimed a Body-Bind curse on him, which missed him at about a few inches.

            “I am going to kill you to pay for what you have caused me if it’s the last thing I’ll do!” Cedric laid a Body-Bind curse on all of them and waved his wand high above the air and chanted, “Avada keda…”

            “STOP!! Don’t do this, Cedric!”

            Cedric gasped when he saw Becka standing right in front of her friends with the baby in her arms, glaring at him warningly. How did she get out of Voldemort’s grasp, they had no idea. The fact is she was there and she was in danger of becoming a dead witch.

            “Get out of the way, Rebecca. This is my fight! I have to settle this!” Cedric snarled, the wand dangerously between her eyes. Becka refused to budge.

            “Don’t do this, Cedric. You know perfectly well that if you kill Harry, the whole world will be in turmoil.”

            “I don’t care! The world is none of my concern. I’m settling the score he owed me last year. This is between him and me, Rebecca! Now back off!”

            “Then you have to kill me first,” Becka said determinedly.

            “Have you gone mad?! Get out of there, Becka! Get out of the way!” the three who were bound under the Body-Bind spell yelled almost in unison.

            “You were never angry at Harry and you never will be,” Becka took a step closer towards Cedric. “You know it’s not Harry’s fault you died. You know perfectly well that your death has nothing to do with Harry. It’s Voldemort you want, not Harry. You know all that.”

           Cedric’s hand began to tremble as he struggled in whether to fulfill his revenge and sacrifice his love or not do it at all. Harry was there, right in front of him, ready for him to kill, ready for him to blast with the Avada Kedavra curse he had died upon. Slowly, he realized that there’s no reason for revenge at all. Why was he taking revenge on Harry? What was there to kill for? He remembered being revived by the Dark Lord and being told again and again that Harry was the cause of his death. Was it really anything to do with Harry? He had no reason to hate him at all, not one bit. They have been friends in Hogwarts enough to trust each other deeply. Why would he want to kill his friend?

            Slowly, Cedric dropped his wand and buried his face in his hands. Becka chanted a counter-curse on Harry and her girlfriends before rushing towards Cedric.

            “What have I done? What monster have I become?” Cedric muttered in horror. “I am so sorry, Harry. I’m so sorry…”

            “It’s alright, you’ve been misled, that’s all,” Harry replied, patting his shoulder.

            Out of the blue, Voldemort glided towards them and snarled, “Traitor! Now you will all die!”

            Voldemort swiped Becka and her wailing baby with one hand and, with the other hand, sent Harry, Cedric and the rest of the Witches flying a few feet away from him with just one swish of his wand. Jude regained composure immediately and ran towards Voldemort to save Becka and her baby, only to be stopped in her tracks by one of Voldemort’s spell.

            “Cut the crap, Voldemort!” Jude growled, the colour of her eyes began to glow in anger. “Let Becka go!”

            Without warning, Jude found herself shoved at the navel and, the next minute, lying on her back with Voldemort’s foot pressing painfully on her chest. Her breasts hurt badly; she was new to the mother’s milk issue and it kinda ached to the touch. Voldemort let out a low chuckle.

            “Now is that the way to speak to your father? After all, I’m still kin, you know.”

            “You…don’t deserve to be…my father!” Jude struggled to speak under his pressurizing foot.

            “Is that how Tanya disciplines you? I think I’d better change that.”

            Jude was quite nervous when Voldemort took out his wand and pointed it directly at her forehead.

            “Say your prayers, my _precious_ daughter. You’re going to need it!”


	22. The Fight to the Death

            Jude closed her eyes as she waited for the blow. But it didn’t come. She opened her eyes and saw Becka and Rach pouncing on him, trying to pry him away from the wand. They had quite a struggle. Jude looked everywhere to see where did Becka leave her baby—she wasn’t holding it—and noticed that Cedric has it. How he managed to get it in such short time, she was yet to figure it out.

            “Fools! Get off me!” Voldemort growled and aimed the wand at himself. “Expelliarmus!!”

            As expected, the duo got flung off by Voldemort, including the evil wizard himself. The duo was sent flying in the air 3 feet away from Voldemort. Voldemort growled as he chanted a spell and shot it at the duo, but was countered by Jude’s own spell from behind. He was infuriated.

            “I am going to kill you once and for all! Even if you are my flesh and blood!”

            “Bring it on, Voldemort,” Jude replied, gesturing challengingly at the Dark Lord, who was nowhere near happiness.

            The battle began. Though cornered and being zapped at and even being lifted high up in the air and being flung at, Voldemort was still standing strong. He returned Harry and the Witches’ blows twice the power they gave him. Cedric didn’t join the fight—he had to protect Henrietta—but once a while, he zapped at the incoming Death Eaters and Pettigrew. Jude was lifted almost near to the sky and dropped with a loud smack on the grassy earth below. Becka was pinned to the ground with the Body-Bind curse and she could almost feel her bones cracking with the invisible weight pinned on her. Harry was flung over and over again across the tombstones until he coughed blood. Rach’s body was slashed from head to toe with only one swipe of Voldemort’s wand.

            “Ha ha ha ha~~!! You can’t defeat me! I’ve lived through the years even when Harry has turned me into spirit form! What can he and his puny little sidekicks do to me now that I have a full body? Ha ha ha~~!!”

            With a wave of his wand, he lifted the Witches high in the air and pinned them onto a huge oak tree really hard. So hard that the trio almost choked. Sparks crackled dangerously as Voldemort raised his wand with his spidery fingers and smirked evilly. He chanted out a charm and sent the blow flying towards the trio who were closing their eyes shut.

            The blow didn’t reach them. They opened their eyes and saw Sirius Black on the grassy floor, red with his own blood. Sirius was gasping for breath, his arms close to his chest as if holding back the intense pain. It seemed like Voldemort has broken off every possible bone he had on his body.

            “Sirius!” the trio yelled and went to him as soon as they felt the pressing impact on their body eased.

            “Don’t mind me!” Sirius gasped, wincing as he spoke. “Your safety’s what most important.”

            “How touching!” Voldemort said sarcastically. “Too bad it has all gone to waste now, isn’t it, Sirius?”

            Voldemort didn’t wait for a reply. The trio charged at him full speed ahead, yelling as they brandished their wands. With one swipe, Voldemort sent them flying again through the air. They were caught before they fell to the ground: Becka was caught by both Harry and Cedric, both of them using either hand, Prof. Lupin caught Rach and Prof. Snape (surprisingly) caught Jude.

            “Stop this insanity, Voldemort!” Prof. Snape hissed. “You’ve done enough damage to the Witches now!”

            “Who are you to order me, traitor? I should’ve known you would betray me for that old man Dumbledore! Playing spies for both sides! You call yourself a Death Eater? Pah!” Voldemort spat as he raised his wand threateningly above his head. “Out of my way, Severus, if you want to live!”

            “I saved her twice from your bad seed implanted in her mind,” Prof. Snape said coldly, not moving an inch, “and I’ll save her again for all eternity. This is my destiny in The Ones’ prophecy.”

            Voldemort laughed a long, cold laugh before glaring at Prof. Snape’s face with his red serpentine eyes and hissed, “Then I shall have to change that.”

            Prof. SNape didn’t see that one coming. Voldemort jerked his head a bit and sent him skidding across the grass far enough away from Jude, making him hit a tombstone. Then he returned his gaze at Jude and made her freeze on the spot. She couldn’t move.

            “How did you like the power I have given you in inheritance? That was a wonderful gift for you. You have the potential to be my heir, to be the greatest witch feared by all others just like they feared me. But the stupid prophecy has ruined everything I had to offer you! My legacy is ruined because of this! I never should’ve had you in the first place! You turned out to be a disgrace! Now let me finish what I should’ve done 14 years ago!”

            A flash came from his wand, shaped like a spear. It was so fast that neither Jude had the time to counter it with her wandless magic nor Prof. Snape had the reflex to get up and rush forward to her. Jude stayed rooted on the spot, waiting for the flash to stab her cold…

            Slowly she realized someone was in front of her, blocking her view. Blood trickled from his back, staining his robes. Jude gasped. She recognized that golden long hair, that fair skin, everything.

            “Tony!!”

            Slowly Tony fell. Jude caught him. His sparkling green eyes met her own glowing green eyes weakly. Tony coughed, blood coming out of his mouth.

            “Looks like…I got here on…time…”

            “Tony! You’re not supposed to be here! You’re on that tower! You…”

            “I escaped…knocked down…the elf…and flew out off Hogwarts…and apparated... here…” His chuckle was cut short by more bloody coughs.

            “Hang on, Tony!! Don’t die!”

            “I forgave you…a long time ago… I love you…Judith…Always…”

            Silence. Tony was gone. Jude could feel his spirit slipping away like sand in her palms. He had a contented smile, as if having fulfilled his destiny for her. Jude suddenly felt cold.

            “All my lessons left to waste,” Voldemort sighed, as if he was throwing away a piece of useless garbage. “Emotions are always man’s weakness.”

            “How could you…!” Sirius gasped. “You talk as if he’s nothing but a broken toy! You…You tried to kill Harry when he’s only a year old…You even want to kill your own daughter!! What kind of wizard are you?!” At that point, manhood tears trickled out of Sirius’ eyes. He could be emotional at times.

            “An ultimate wizard,” Voldemort replied coldly, uncaring. “A wizard who knows that there is no good or evil, only power. I am that power!”

            Anger began to burn in Jude’s soul. It was searing hot, an anger she had never felt before. It wasn’t that kind of hate she felt when her friend Hannah betrayed her; it was something more than that. Her eyes glowed greener as she laid Tony’s head slowly down onto the grass and stood up to face Voldemort. Voldemort looked up. He was quite shocked to feel such sudden aura on Jude. Jude clenched her fists, cracking them.

            “You’ll pay, Voldemort. You’ll pay!!”

            So saying, she sent out a greenish aura on Voldemort, flinging him backwards. Voldemort almost choked when his body hit the same oak tree the trio hit upon in the first place. He surged back upright, only to freeze on the spot by Rach’s bluish aura, ice climbing up to his waist. He struggled to move, but in vain.

            “You…That’s impossible…! I’m indestructible…!”

            Jude turned to Becka and Rach. Their eyes met each other, creating an understanding, a bond that only The Ones can form between themselves. They nodded in acknowledgement. Then, as if they have been doing it all their lives, Rach and Becka closed their eyes and laid their hands on each other’s shoulder: Becka on Rach’s and Rach on Jude’s. They concentrated their powers they have been trained for all this while, bringing them up to their hearts and centralizing them onto their palms. Harry saw what they were doing and took out his wand, sticking the tip onto Becka’s back and concentrated with all his might, channeling the power he had from his lightning-bolt scar to the trio. Soon, their powers came in line.

            “Chant with me, NOW!!”

            They followed Jude’s order. Automatically, they knew the words and chanted a long verse of spells they never thought they knew.

            “Erektus erodius seregne avi lactus warlocka dorodium el electeca yesinda magnatius corocasscus shenne (By the name of all the wizards, witches, warlocks and magical beings unite, send this demon to his death)!!”

            “Voldemort, begone!!!” Jude yelled, releasing the power she had received from The Ones and The Boy Who Lived.

            There was a huge blinding flash and a bloodcurdling yell. Sounds of tearing, slashing and cracking were throughout the whole graveyard. Death Eaters were also yelling, including Pettigrew, and began to scamper about for cover, screaming bloody murder. Becka, Rach and Harry fell backwards by the impact. Jude was thrown up and hung in the mid-air. A streak of her hair, starting from the middle, became silvery white. Her robes tore. Everything went into slow motion.

            First her robes tore into a thousand shreds, revealing her naked body. Then her back burst, fragments of her spine and blood flew out at all directions in crimson red. Her spine actually shattered like a glass smashed onto the ground. Her blood—large amounts of it—splattered aimlessly, staining her whole body. She choked, more blood gurgled out of her throat and mouth, not to mention her nose as well. She fell back slowly.

            Her nightmare has come true, in a way. She was falling, falling fast like nobody cared where she would land…

            Strong arms caught her. Cold, tunnel-dark eyes gazed at her, filled with emotion. Those familiar eyes filled with worry and fear for her life. She saw herself—bloody, naked, and cold— in the arms of Prof. Snape, her saviour, her teacher, her love. Just like the first time she met him at the playground.

            “Light! Be strong, Light! Don’t let go of yourself!”

            “Voldemort…?” Jude breathed, blood oozing out of the corner of her lips.

            “He’s not dead yet, but you have broken his body. He is in the spirit form once more, just like the first time he encountered Potter,” Prof. Lupin explained triumphantly. “He won’t be bothering us for a long, long time. You crushed his body so bad, even his spirit is unrecognizable.”

            “Yeah! You did it! You all did it! Yayy for The Ones and Harry Potter!” Obviously Sirius hadn’t lost his spirits despite being badly hurt.

            Jude smiled. She clutched as tightly as she could onto Prof. Snape’s robe, not wanting to let go.

            “Don’t worry, Light. Madame Pomfrey will cure you in an instant. Be strong, Light!” This was the first time anyone had ever heard him giving encouragement like this.

            “Severus…” Jude whispered weakly. Slowly she closed her eyes. Her clutch gradually loosened and fell to her side, dangling lifelessly. Everyone gasped. Prof. Snape’s heart sank.

            “No! No, Jude! Don’t die!” Becka began to burst into tears before flinging herself onto Cedric’s arms and cried. So far, Cedric managed to stop himself from running away like the rest of the Death Eaters. Cedric held her close.

            “Oh, Jude! You dimwit, don’t fail on us now!” Rach couldn’t help crying as well as she shook Jude’s shoulder in vain.

            “Jude! You’ve gone this far! It’s not fair! Prof. Lupin, Prof. Snape, Sirius! Please do something!” Harry begged from one grown-up to another but none of them made a move. They just stood there, unable to get over the shock and disbelief.

            Prof. Snape sank to the grass. Arms and hands trembling, he brought Jude close to his chest. The blood on her back reddened his hands and stained his sleeves but he paid no heed. Her heartbeat was untraceable. It’s gone, stopped, nowhere to be found. Her whole body was cold, as cold as ice. His whole body trembled as he held her closer.

            Finally he let out a scream so loud that not even anyone in Hogwarts had ever heard him did before.


	23. The Other Side of Snape

            An atmosphere of sadness and grief hung over the Hospital Wing. It was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Jude laid lifelessly on the bed, bandaged from her breast-down in white.

            Becka and Rach huddled together, holding their babies and sobbed. Cedric held the duo close to his chest, consoling them. Harry gazed at Jude sadly. Hermione buried her face on Ron’s shoulder, letting out muffled wails, while Ron cried silent tears. The Hawkins siblings also cried. Prof. Dumbledore took off his glasses and mourned with Prof. Lupin. Prof. McGonagalle blew her nose. Sirius joined in the mourning from his bed. Hagrid bawled like a baby.

            “Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo! Ma’am Lucius lil’ lassie’s dead! What am I goin’ to tell da ma’am? She’ll be so sad!”

            “It has to be done,” Prof. Dumbledore said quietly. “It is our obligation to inform any news about their children to the parents. If you can’t tell her, then I will.”

            “Such fine lass!” Hagrid sobbed and blew his nose with a loud honk. “She’s so young, yet so fine! I hasn’t got more time to know her! Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo~!”

            “Stop crying like that! You’re making me even more miserable!” Becka snapped at Hagrid. Rach held her baby closer to her chest like a prized treasure.

            “So-So-Sorry, lass. I kin help it!” Hagrid blew his nose again. “It’s-It’s just so sad, letting da lil’ girl leave us like this.”

            “Shall we conduct the burial here or let her parents take her back to be buried?” Prof. McGonagalle asked, her voice shaking a little.

            “Better give her to Tanya,” Prof. Dumbledore replied, putting his half-mooned glasses back on. “We have to respect her family’s wishes. They might want to conduct the burial themselves.”

            “No, she can’t be dead.”

            Everyone spun round to see Prof. Snape advancing towards Jude’s bed in an abnormally calm way. He had her son in his arms. He held out a hand and stroked her dark-brown hair, fingering the silver streak in the middle, much to everyone’s surprise. Prof. Dumbledore put his hand on his shoulder.

            “Severus, let her go. She’s dead. You heard what Poppy said…”

            “She’s wrong. Light can’t be dead. She just can’t be. She’s so cheerful and bright and happy all the time. She had a really cheerful conversation with me yesterday. Now she’s…no, that’s impossible! She’s still alive! She just doesn’t know how to wake up from this dream!”

            “Poppy’s a trained, experienced medi-witch. She can’t be wrong,” Prof. Lupin cut in, trying to pacify his colleague. “You know it yourself too. You know how the Witches’ life span is shown.”

            “By this streak of silver hair?” Prof. Snape said as he raised the silver streak. “That doesn’t prove anything! It could be something else, something that made her suddenly change. It could be…”

            “Stop it, Severus. Accept the fact. She’s gone. Let her go,” Prof. Dumbledore tightened his grip on Prof. Snape’s shoulder a little. Prof. Snape slumped, his tunnel-dark eyes locked onto Jude’s calm, serene face. His breath trembled as he let it out slowly.

            “This…This is not fair…Light, she…she had brought so much riot, so much havoc and surprise in my class. There’s never a dull moment when she’s around…I…I can’t believe I’m saying this but…I really enjoyed having her as my student.”

            Everyone stared at him in astonishment. They never knew that the famous cold and calm Potion Master of Hogwarts would admit everything that was bottled up in his heart.

            “She’s a walking accident-prone. She always had a way of making her situation brighter. I always gave her a hard time, but she always pulled through. She…She did so much for me…She tolerated my attitude, listened to all my orders, never complained much…She sacrificed so much for Hogwarts…Why…? Why did she have to…?”

            Prof. Snape couldn’t continue. He dashed away from the bed and out of the ward, taking the whining baby with him. They didn’t give chase. They knew that Prof. Snape, the ever cold and proud professor, needed some time and space to let it all out.

            “So, Hagrid. Are you going to tell Judith’s mother about this?” Prof. Dumbledore asked the gamekeeper, who was still blowing his nose on a large hanky.

            “I’ll try,” Hagrid sniffed, drying his eyes.

            “Thank you, Hagrid. And, Poppy,” Prof. Dumbledore called the medi-witch who was sitting at a corner in the background wiping her tears, “you take Judith’s body and put her into the Cold Room until everything’s said and done.”

            Madame Pomfrey nodded. With Prof. Lupin’s help, she carried Jude into a room which was situated at a secluded place in the hospital. She opened the door and Rach and Becka could feel the cold mist emitted out slowly. They placed Jude on an icy, metallic bed in the middle of the room and shut the door tight. Madame Pomfrey remembered the last time she used this room was to keep the used-to-be-dead Cedric Diggory. Becka and Rach placed their hands on the cold door, trying to feel if her slightest aura was still there.

            None.

            “Goodbye, Jude. We’ll miss you.”

            With Cedric’s arms still around them, Becka and Rach slowly left the silent Hospital Wing.

                                                                                    *

            Everyone mourned for Jude that night. The whole castle was silent as death. The Slytherin dormitory was the quietest of all. Two lives lost from Slytherin: Tony Brixius and Judith Cecelia Light. Draco hid in his dorm and cried on his bed for hours, and he cried the most bitterly of all the Slytherins. He really loved Jude so much.

            Nothing could be more miserable.

                                                                                    *

            “Severus, certainly not…”

            “Poppy, please. I’ve never asked anything from you. Please do me this favour.”

            “But, Severus, surely you’re not thinking about…I will most certainly not do this! This is insane!”

            Only a candle was lit, so the only thing—or people—were two silhouettes, one belonged to the cold, shoulder-length haired, crooked nosed and tall Severus Snape, and a fairly thin and short medi-witch Poppy Pomfrey.

            “What if Albus starts asking questions? What if Hagrid told her mother about the news and then comes back here to find her body missing?” Poppy asked in a mixture of fear and worry. “He’ll howl the place down for all he cares! You know how he treasures Tanya Lucius’ daughter!”

            “That I have taken care of,” Severus replied in a precise tone. “You take this letter to Hagrid and I ensure you he won’t howl, not in a million years.”

            “I don’t know, Severus…” Poppy said doubtfully as she led Severus to the Cold Room. Severus stood his ground.

            “This is my only wish, Poppy. Do it.”

            Poppy nodded and opened the door of the Cold Room. There Jude lay: naked, bandaged, cold and lifeless, in the middle of the room, on the metallic bed. Severus came towards Jude and picked her up in his arms.

            “Please be careful. Dead bodies are always fragile once they’re out under room temperature,” Poppy warned.

            Severus gave her a sideways look. Poppy closed her mouth—she almost forgot that she shouldn’t mention the ‘D’ word about Jude in front of him.

            “Come, Light. To where you’ll be safe,” Severus whispered to Jude’s ear as he carried her silently out of the room and out of the Hospital Wing.

                                                                                    *

            Hagrid dipped his quill into the ink and started scratching on the parchment. He occasionally let out a soft ‘Boo hoo hoo’ or a loud sniff, obviously still grieving for Jude. Fang whined as he laid his head on his master’s knee, trying to comfort him. Hagrid noticed and stroked him.

            “This is hopeless, Fang. I av’ no ‘art to tell Ma’am Lucius about her lassie. Jude is a fine lassie. She could summat be like her ol’ man—I mean in the good side—if she ‘ere still livin’. That bum of a You-Know-Who! It’s all his bloomin’ fault! He killed his own poor lassie!”

            His complaints were cut short when an eagle owl came in with a letter in its beak. Hagrid fished out a dead rat to feed it as he took the letter. Slowly he opened it and read it. Gradually his sodden eyes widened with glee. His long face slowly creased into a smile, then a grin. Then he flung the letter high in the air, crumpled the parchment he was about to write to Jude’s mother and threw it out of the window. He cheered like a maniac, taking Fang by surprise. Fang hadn’t have time to react even.

            The old gamekeeper’s heart was filled with joy and hope once more.

                                                                                    *

            Severus walked silently down the dungeon hallway and went through twists and turns until he reached a dead end. He took out his wound and chanted, “Alame titaricus solicis…” And the spell dragged on. No sooner he ended his chanting, than a wall gaped open like a yawning mouth. In the open wall emerged an oak door gleaming with polish. Severus put his hand on the handle and muttered a password, “Black Witch.”

            Almost immediately, the door handle allowed itself to turn and let him in. a very strong whiff of coldness surrounded him as he closed the door behind him. Icicles were formed at every corner of the room and Severus was breathing mists. The only furniture available in the room was an old canopy bed like the ones in the students’ dorms. It was also frozen with frost and icicles. Even the bed sheets felt as hard as solid ice. Severus advanced towards the bed and stroked Jude’s head.

            Jude seemed as serene as ever, like nothing in the world can ever wake her up from her endless dream. Severus sighed. He didn’t mean to write the letter of lies to Hagrid but it was the only way to keep Albus from questioning any of the staff and spread suspicion everywhere around Hogwarts. In the letter, he told Hagrid that he was conjuring up some potion to try and revive Jude back from the dead. He told Hagrid to tell Albus that Jude’s mother came almost immediately as soon as she heard about Jude’s death and took her away without further notice—just fro an excuse until he has done with the potion. He urged Hagrid to keep it a secret as he wanted it to be a Hogwarts surprise.

            God knows what a pack of bull he had written. It’s impossible to bring someone back to life, not even if you chanted a million spells. Black Magic might do the trick but it only lasts for a given period of time. After that, Jude might turn into a zombie or some sort—an undead. He couldn’t explain why. He just wanted to keep her, to see her, to have her for as long as possible. He even used a freezing spell to freeze the room in order to do so.

            “Wake up, Light. It’s me, your most loved teacher Severus Snape.”

            Jude, of course, didn’t reply. Silent as ever.

            “Come on, Light. Wake up. Get up and hug me. You’re good at that. Wake up and say nice things to me. Wake and hold me in your arms. Come on.”

            Severus knew this was stupid, but he did it all the same.

            “You always had a crush on me. You always thought that I’m unfair, that I’m always against you, and that I’m always oblivious to your feelings, yet you still loved me. True, I might be what you say I am, but I never said I hated you. You bring so much racket yet so much joy to my class. You dared to do things even Potter wouldn’t do.

            “I don’t hate you. I…care about you. I may not show it all this while, but I do care about you. It’s just that…I don’t want to ruin my portrayal as a Potion Master in front of everyone. I’m always worried about when are you going to make another explosion or flip another jar of ingredients. I’m constantly on guard in case you start going up in flames. I often do things behind people’s back. It gets old.”

            He fingered the pendulum that still hung around Jude’s neck. “Remember this pendulum? I gave it to you during Valentine’s Day. I have sacrificed my pride to let Filch’s cat bring this to you. What else do you want? Why won’t you wake up?

            “You want me to love you, isn’t it? You want me to return your love, isn’t it? I’ve told you, we’re not meant to be. You’re a student, I’m a teacher. That’s where we stand. Don’t you understand? We can’t love each other. You’re the Black Witch, the Chosen One of the prophecy, and who am I? Just an insignificant Potion Master with no powers from the beyond…”

            No matter how much he talked, there was still no response from Jude. Severus’ heart sank.

            “Do you want me to let you in a secret? The day you were born, I was there to help. The moment you were out into this world and the minute I saw you, I’ve decided there and then that…I will marry you and make you the best wife ever. Madame Snape. Do you like it? It sounds ridiculous but…I want to marry you…I want…”

            Severus trembled, trying to hold back the tears as hard as he could. He had never cried—not since he escaped from the tyranny of Voldemort into the welcoming arms of Albus Dumbledore. He swore to himself never to cry for anybody, and the years with the Dark Lord has trained him to be a cold, expressionless man. No mercy, he remembered Voldemort telling him. No one in Hogwarts could move him, except Albus who was almost a godfather to him. He was stationary, standing tall and proud among his colleagues. Unmovable, unbreakable.

            But now everything has changed. This night, after almost a week of keeping Jude in the room, he cried. He could feel his icy cold tears trickling down his sallow cheek. Tentatively, he advanced towards Jude’s cold body and placed his lips on hers, kissing her tenderly.

            No response. Jude still didn’t open her eyes. This was not a scene from Sleeping Beauty—it’s totally childish and cliché—but Severus couldn’t help feeling that there might be hope in doing so. Now all hope was gone. He had to admit the fact that he constantly denied for so long.

            She’s dead. Gone. Forever.

            Severus buried his face in his arms and sobbed like never before. He had never felt so sad before in his life.

            It was a terrible feeling.

                                                                                    *

            Jude opened her eyes slowly and blinked. She tried to calculate how long she has been sleeping but finally decided against it. Why the details? She’s awake, and that’s all that matters.

            Then she remembered the fight, the pain as her spine shattered, and Prof. Snape’s eyes as he gazed into hers. She felt cold. She noticed that everything around her was frozen, forming icicles. She tried to move to see what’s going on but then realized she couldn’t get up without her spine. She laid her head back onto the pillow and shivered, her naked body suddenly covered with goose pimples. She began to wonder where her baby boy was.

            Suddenly, she heard a series of faint breathing. She turned her head and blushed when she saw Prof. Snape asleep beside her bed with his head propped up on his arms. That restless look. ‘Poor Prof. Snape,’ she thought. ‘How long has _he_ been asleep? It must be very uncomfortable.’

            She reached her handout and stroked his hair (lacking of grease) and touched his face. Pale as usual, she started tracing his face from the forehead. When she reached his crooked nose, he sneezed. Jude pull her hand away in disgust and complained silently, wiping her hand on his sleeve.

            “Eew! Gross! Sneeze somewhere else!”

            Prof. Snape opened his eyes almost immediately. He gazed in disbelief at Jude who was griping and wiping her saliva-stained hand on his sleeve. He slowly brought himself closer towards her and touched her face. Jude looked at him straight in the eye and smiled, “Hi, Prof. Snape.”

            Then, without warning, Prof. Snape seized her and hugged her tight. Jude was quite taken aback but she let him hug her. They were like that for goodness-knows-how-long. Time seemed to freeze between them but none of them seemed to care.

            Finally Jude broke the ice, “Sir, you can let go now.”

            “I…I thought you’re gone…” Prof. Snape’s voice was trembling.

            “I thought that too. But…I think I heard your voice, and the others’. There’s a beautiful place out there but…I came back. Sorry it took me such a long time.”

            “I…thought…I lost you…”

            “I’m back now, aren’t I?”

            Prof. Snape nodded, still hugging Jude. Jude pulled his head slowly to face hers and placed her lips on his, kissing him deeply. For once, Prof. Snape actually returned her kiss. It was quite a long time before they finally parted.

            “I love you, Severus.”

            Prof. Snape didn’t answer. He just held her close, not wanting to let her go. He feared that if he ever let go, he’ll lose her forever. He inhaled her hair deeply, feeling her skin in his own arms, savouring the feeling of her cheek against his.

            It felt like heaven for the both of them.

            “My Witch,” Prof. whispered to her ear. “My precious Black Witch.”

            Jude smiled. She knew what he meant.


	24. Life After Hogwarts

**_Dear Jude,_ **

**_Howdy there! How are you getting along with ol’ Snape? Pretty good, huh? I suppose that getting at each other’s throats is your idea of a happy marriage. Lotsa luck!_ **

**_Cedric and I came across Bill Weasley today. Those dragons he was studying are simply magnificent! They are so large, almost a size bigger than Fluffy. And the fire, woah! You can make a barbecue for 10 families using that fire. Interesting! Speaking of Fluffy, I spotted Norbert somewhere in the distance. I think he has a mate and a few kids of his own. Fascinating sight. Tell Hagrid for me that they are doing just well. I even took a picture of him. There are 2 copies. Give one to Hagrid. He’ll like it._ **

**_We’re still traveling around the globe. I’m happy to announce that Cedric and I are in_ ** **_Norway_ ** **_, home of Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback, studying a new species called The Sludges. Their habitat is just right in the deep edges of the sewage (gross, but true) and we’ll be studying them very closely for some time. Wish us luck!_ **

**_I always believe that both of us are going to succeed in publishing the true facts about magical creatures and the species of the unknown. I know we will, unlike some cheat like Gilderoy Lockhart. So look out for our 1 st edition. You’re gonna love it! We’ll be traveling to _ ** **_Dominica_ ** **_next after we’re done with the Sludges._ **

**_I know you’ll take good care of my Cyril and Henrietta, so I won’t ask about him too much. Tell him that his baby sister’s doing just fine and will be due next fall. Lotsa love to you and the people of Hogwarts! Ta ta!_ **

**_From your friend BECKA_ **

* * *

****

**_Dear Jude,_ **

**_Hello, Jude! Glad to see my letter? I bet you are. It’s been a long while since I wrote, what with all the business and everything. But I’m doing pretty fine, really_ **

**_Guess what? I’m pregnant again! My dear Slipper is going to be a father again! Don’t tell Chris yet. He’s easily jealous, just like his father. I just went to a medi-witch and she said it_ could _be another boy again._** **_Haven’t I have enough boys yet? First it’s Talos, then Chris, and now this. They sure can be a handful sometimes._**

**_Slipper and I are managing the apothecary really well. Business has been good, mostly because I make the best potions for the wizarding public. Stock’s been pretty good too, so if you and Prof. Snape need anything for the lab, be happy and feel free to order from me. I might give you a discount._ **

**_So how’s Becka? Got her letter yet? I know I got it. I wish I could go around the globe with her but the apothecary’s just fine. I’m still into making potions for our fellow wizards and witches, and also for the first-years-to-be of Hogwarts. Diagon Alley is just the perfect place to set up businesses. I could even sell some of my unwanted Muggle junk for extra income! He he!_ **

**_Remind the kids to take their vitamins and don’t go about cursing people. But then again, kids will be kids. Let them have as much fun as they want, so long as they don’t get expelled. Send them my love._ **

**_Your loving friend, RACH_ **

* * *

 

            Jude smiled as she put the letters into her collection of other letters in a large box. It was the 3rd time she enlarged that box in order to add in more and more letters from her girlfriends.

            Her studying days were over, but her life in Hogwarts hadn’t. She and the others had graduated with flying colours and became Top Students of Hogwarts for the Year, first in Hogwarts’ history to have that much Top Students. They even received a medal for saving Hogwarts and the whole witchcraft and wizardry nation from the wrath of Voldemort for now.

            Jude’s awakening was a shock and surprise to Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey almost had a heart attack when she saw Prof. Snape coming in with Jude in his arms, alive and kicking, beaming at her. She then burst into tears of joy as she fed Jude with the Skele-grow concoction. It tasted really nasty but Jude wouldn’t want to spend her whole life on a wheelchair.

            Prof. Snape sent an owl to Hagrid to tell him about the good news. He was overjoyed and started running around the castle spreading the news, his heavy footsteps thumping away like mad. Peeves helped by gliding in and out of every house dorm and upsetting anything that might go bang, yelling, “The Black Witch’s alive! The Black Witch’s back!”

            Many refused to believe it at first and yelled at him not to joke about the dead (although he was the dead), but when Hagrid started banging at the dorm doors and hollering about Jude, everyone rushed out to check it out.

            Becka and Rach were the first to arrive at the Hospital Wing, followed by Harry, who was carrying Jude’s baby, and the gang, Draco Malfoy and the Hawkins siblings. They all fussed about Jude, hugging her and crying happy tears. The whole castle of Hogwarts rejoiced that night, including all the staff of Hogwarts, and the next morning, when the Skele-grow finally took effect, she received the warmest welcome during breakfast at the Great Hall.

            All and all, the trio finally completed their 7th year and during the graduation ceremony, their parents came to Hogwarts castle see them. Jude visited Tony’s grave which was situated inside the Forbidden Forest after the graduation ceremony. She laid a few forget-me-nots on the grave and kissed his tombstone, thanking him for sacrificing his life for her and apologizing to him for accidentally murdering his parents.

            Cedric was there to see Becka graduate and two days after the ceremony, he sent her an owl inviting her to join him on a quest to study creatures of the unknown throughout the globe. And she did. Taking her daughter Henrietta with her, she packed her bags, said her goodbyes to her parents and started her journey with Cedric. Romantically, they were married in France and had a son in Germany named Cyril Diggory.

            Rach didn’t go very far. Being trusted of independence by her parents, she took Talos along with her to a number of potion houses and magical shops to practice and enhance her potion-making skills. She even did a self-study on the ancient runes of the world and knew almost all the ancient languages from the four corners of the earth by heart, including Elvish and half-creature talks. Becka always asked her to translate anything that she found during her journey throughout the globe.

            Finally she opened an apothecary shop of her own at Diagon Alley, selling anything from potions to elixirs to potion ingredients. She, after many attempts, finally found the permanent spell and potion (that has to come together to take effect) to make Slipper into a real human. Slipper changed his name to Matthew Roberts Lee, but Rach still liked calling him Slipper. After a few years being together managing the shop and all, they were wed in spring and had Chris 2 years later during winter.

            What about Jude? Well, she furthered her studies as a medi-witch. Draco came to her to propose to her, wishing that she would marry him and be his wife, but Jude told him the truth about her love towards Prof. Snape, shattering his heart into a thousand pieces. She came back to Hogwarts to become another member in the Hospital Wing. At first, Madame Pomfrey wasn’t too thrilled to have a colleague in her workplace when Prof. Dumbledore informed this to everyone in the staff meeting, but when he called Jude to come in and say hello, she changed her mind immediately. She welcomed Jude warmly and became the best of friends in the Hospital Wing.

            Prof. Snape hadn’t change a bit when she came back to serve Hogwarts. Apart from a few unnoticeable streaks of white hair, everything in him stayed the same. And the way they have their conversation hasn’t changed a jot. Prof. Snape still gave her cold remarks and cynical answers and Jude still tried to sweet-talk or reason with him and loud-mouthed him occasionally. By then, all of the staff knew about their relationship and the love hidden behind their arguments. Draco had actually enrolled himself into Hogwarts as the new DADA teacher in order to see Jude everyday and hoping that one day she would come back to him. He may be jealous at seeing Jude and Prof. Snape bickering at each other for all they care, but he refused to give up hope. He was determined to make her his wife and no one else.

            You don’t get this type of loyal man everyday, you know.

            Finally, after a few years in Hogwarts, Prof. Snape proposed to her. He dragged her all the way to his private domain a.k.a. his room and said directly to her in a cold, stern voice “I want you to marry me” and kissed her deeply, catching her by surprise. He must have gathered a lot of guts to do this because before he kissed her, she saw his sallow face actually blushing like mad. The rest that happened in Snape’s domain…well, you get the idea (saucy hot blushes ensured).

            They were married in the castle grounds, conducted and joined together by Prof. Dumbledore himself. It was a joyous occasion and everyone, including the students and ex-students of Hogwarts (except Draco), cheering and waving out sparks and confetti from their wands. A year later, at the end of summer, Jude and Prof. Snape became the proud parents of twin girls named Severia and Severee Snape. Her son Kiaran was the happiest of all.

            Jude was pretty famous in Hogwarts, and it goes the same with Rach in Diagon Alley and Becka almost across the globe. She was cheerful and friendly to all her fellow students. Sometimes they would come to her and complain about her husband’s unfair attitude and she would laugh it away and comfort them. She even put her Divination practice to use, only to caught by her cold husband and be lectured on. The students found it hard to believe that this husband and wife had such different characteristics yet able to stay married for so long. At other times, she drew comics and asked her Muggle parents to help her mail it to the publishers for extra income.

            The children Chris, Cyril, Severia and Severee, Talos, Henrietta and Kiaran enrolled into Hogwarts together and became the best of friends. Seeing them together often reminded Jude about her school days with her girlfriends.

            “Mummy, Mummy! We are going to Honeydukes to buy some goodies to watch the Quidditch games! We need money!”

            Jude smiled as she filled the twins’ and Kiaran’s pouches with money. Kiaran, Severia and Severee were her prized jewels. Both the twins had long flowing black hair and dark eyes like their father. No crooked noses, though. The other kids came in to usher them to hurry up. Chris inherited his mother’s blue-black hair and intelligent looks while Cyril had the same brown hair and silver eyes of his father.

            “Be careful now, kids,” Jude reminded. “Don’t go…”

            “Running into trouble. We know!” The kids said in unison and giggled as they got onto their brooms and left. Jude shook her head and smiled weakly. Kids will always be kids.

            Slowly the sky darkened. Thunder boomed at a distance, coming closer. Jude could feel the aura. The familiar dark aura.

            So evil.

            So sinister and dark.

            Voldemort.

            Prof. Snape rushed into the Hospital Wing. He felt the aura as well. The Death Eater’s mark on his wrist was burning pretty bright. He took Jude’s hand and whispered, “He’s here. The Dark Lord is back.”

            “I know, Sev,” Jude replied, worried. “I felt it too.”

            “Looks like he had replenished his strength again the last time we defeated him.”

            Jude nodded. Then she realized something and said, “Sev, the kids! They went to Honeydukes just now! Go and bring them back, quick! Please, Sev, I fear the worst!”

            “Don’t worry, Jude. I’m on it,” Prof. Snape assured her and left the Hospital Wing. Moments later, she saw him riding the broom and disappearing into the horizon. Jude hunted her briefcase and took out her slightly modified crystal ball.

            “Time to call Harry and the Witches,” she muttered as she hovered her hands around the crystal ball, closed her eyes and concentrated.

            What happens next? Well, that’s another story for you to think…


End file.
